2023

After many years of work, the Norwegian Truth and Reconciliation Commission handed in its report to the country’s parliament on 1 June. The commission investigated the Norwegianisation policy and its effects on the Saami, Kvens and Forest Finns.

On 25 May, the Russian-Swiss writer, Mikhail Shishkin, was the invited to talk at Open Estonia Foundation’s discussion evening in Tallinn, titled “What Will Happen …

The crisis and traumas related to Russia's aggression in Ukraine affect not only representatives of Finno-Ugric minorities living in Estonia with Russian citizenship, but also Estonians: there is mutual learning. Estonians and Finns, as small nations and Finno-Ugric people, have been forced to adapt to very rapid social changes due to the changed geopolitical situation and the war, and that is not always easy. This was discussed at the OEF/Active Citizens Fund project seminar held on 13 May in Tapa.

The Saami community in Russia was divided in half after the war in Ukraine began. Some of the Saami have taken part in protests in support of the Russian attack, Justas Stasevskiy reports on YLE.

The annual Photo Competition of the Groves organised by Hiite Maja Foundation has begun, where photos and videos of groves and other historic sacred natural sites are welcomed. The purpose of the competition is to record and value the cultural and natural heritage of indigenous sacred sites and to encourage people to get to know them.

Since 1993, April 16 has been celebrated as the Erzya Language Day. Some years ago, the day was changed in the Russian Federation to the Mordvin Language Day.

Mordvins living in Estonia celebrated the Erzya Language Day on April 14. The event was organised by the Estonian Mordvin Culture Society and the Erzya Cultural Association Syatko at the Tallinn Folk High School.

The Komi Language and Writing Day is celebrated on the third Sunday of May in the Republic of Komi.

The Sami Language Support Centre has been opened at the Institute of Linguistics of the Murmansk Arctic State University. The university is the only institution in Russia that teaches the Sami language in the master's degree.

On March 28, Jaak Prozes and Andres Heinapuu will give a lecture on the Finno-Ugric national movements from the end of the 1980s to the early 2000s and the Finno-Ugric World Congresses in the 1990s and 2000s at the Academy of the Finno-Ugric youth organisation MAFUN.

Today on 26 March 2023 is the first occasion that the Livonian Heritage Day is celebrated in numerous locations both in Latvia and Estonia. The …

This marks the first time that the Finno-Ugric Capital of Culture will be located in Finland. Kuhmo expects the title to boost cultural tourism in the region and to support the preservation and revitalization of languages and cultural heritage across the wider Finno-Ugric world.