Rally held in Yoshkar-Ola in support of indigenous people

Yesterday, on 27 August 2015, a rally was held in front of the seat of the government of Mari El in Yoshkar-Ola. The rally addressed the danger of disappearance faced by the Mari people, advocated the preservation of Mari traditions and culture, and demanded protection of the peoples of the Republic of Mari El from the tyranny of corruption.

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Russia’s unorthodox worshippers

Alexandre Billette pays a visit to forest worshippers of the remote Mari El republic on the Volga, who have maintained their religious traditions despite pressure from the Tsars, the Soviet regime and the Orthodox church.

On a poor road across the Mari El Republic, the village of Mari-Turek is barely distinguishable from thousands of others in rural Russia that time has forgotten. With no industry, it dozes peacefully away from the main thoroughfares of the Volga federal district.

Finnish Intellectuals Circulating Petition against Moscow Plan to Flood Mari Lands

A group of Finnish intellectuals is seeking signatures on an international petition urging Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to drop plans to raise the water level behind a Volga hydroelectric dam lest it flood the lands of a Finno-Ugric people and lead to the destruction that group’s language and culture.

Although various ethnic and ecological groups have spoken out against RusHydro’s plans to raise the water level behind the Cheboksary Hydroelectric Dam by three meters in order to increase power production,

Mari teenagers studying journalism (VIDEO)

The Mari children’s magazine, Keche (“Sunshine”), is holding a forum for young Mari reporters. The forum has received financial support from the Finnish M. A. Castrén Society:

Source: Mari El TV

‘Europe’s Last Pagans’ Worship in Marii El Grove

More than 50 worshippers gathered in a sacred grove on a hot June afternoon outside the village of Marisola. The crowd, mostly women dressed in national costumes and colorful headscarves, stood on a glade opposite a spruce where men were busy conducting prayers.

The congregation kneeled while the men under the spruce, dressed in suits, white felt hats and linen towels cast over their shoulders, said prayers in a low, monotone murmur.

Mari El: Anti-corruption website closed down

Authorities in Russia’s Republic of Mari El seem to regard President Dmitry Medvedev’s call to step up the fight against corruption as a direct threat to their personal interests, MariUver reports.

Their first step was to close down the website of the Public Committee to Fight Corruption in Mari El. This was not the first time that the authorities have tried to discredit the Committee.

Belarus’ opposition youths call on USA, Europe to recognize independence of Mari El

Flag of Mlady Front

Malady Front (Young Front), Belarus’ Czech-registered opposition youth group, has called on the United States and Europe to recognize the independence of Russia’s regions of Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ingushetia.

Malady Front In its statement issued on August 27, Malady Front condemns what it calls Russia’s imperial ambitions and “violent and armed invasion” of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which the organization says are part of sovereign Georgia.