The Estonian Kindred People’s Programme Awarded the Ilmapuu Prize

For the first time, the Estonian Kindred People’s Programme awarded the Ilmapuu (World Tree) Prize, with an aim to acknowledge the citizens’ initiative associated with the cultural identity and persistence of a Finno-Ugric people.

The Council of the Kindred People’s Programme decided to award the first Ilmapuu Prize to Tatiana Efimova, the head of the Society of Votian Culture, who has largely supported the self-awareness of the Votian people and contributed to the preservation of local customs.

Numerically Small Nationalities Fear Russian Census Tilted Against Them

The leaders of some of Russia’s numerically small nationalities say that the way in which Moscow officials plan to conduct the all-Russian census this fall will understate the size of their communities, a development that in turn will reduce the funds they receive and thus further undermine their chances for survival.

At a meeting this week in Yoshkar-Ola of the Association of the Finno-Ugric Peoples of Russia,