The article deals with questions of functioning of museums of national culture on the example of Oriental museum in Yalta, and I focused on the activity of its chief Ya.M. Yakub Kemal. Specific feature of this period was the policy of indigenization which was carried out by USSR government. This policy had an impact on the formation of exhibition and conduction of museum researches. National museums activity and involvement of Crimean Tatars in its researches are particularly relevant in light of the restoration of rights of the Crimean Tatar people after returning from places of deportation. The subject of research is the functioning of the Oriental Museum in Yalta and the work of its prominent members in the 20-30s of the 20th c. The article is based on little-known documents from the archives of the Russian Federation. Studying this subject I used different methods such as historical and systematic, historical and typological, biographical, retrospective, etc. Foundation of this museum took place in 1921. Its first director was A. Khatipov. From the first days of the establishment of the museum a special place in his expositions held artifacts of Crimean Tatars. Significance of its ethnographic collection had been recognized by the leading scientists of USSR. In 1927, Ya.M Yakub Kemal became the director of Oriental museum. His efforts led to the replenished of museum`s funds, organization of several expeditions, formation of a contacts between other scientific institutions. However, the rise of the museum was short-lived. Ya.M. Yakub Kemal was dismissed from his post as director and repressed then.