published in Postimees, 25 October 2023

After my almost 4 years in Estonia, and more then 10 years as a Finno-Ugric scholar, I keep being amazed at how seriously Estonians take October as Hõimukuu. Not only is the third Saturday of October a flag day dedicated to Finno-Ugrians. But two (not one!) grand concerts are held in Tallinn and Tartu, along with countless other minor events organized by Fenno-Ugria or other organizations. Just this Friday the youth organization Hõimulõimed held a Finno-Ugric disco in Tartu with more than 100 participants.

It seems like knowledge and interest for Finno-Ugric peoples is ever-present in Estonia, in both everyday conversations and high politics – do Estonians know this phenomenon is unique to the world?

Nowhere else is a permanent exhibition at the National Museum dedicated to the country’s language family, let alone Finno-Ugrians. Nowhere else could I say that I research Mari language and not have to explain what it is. Nowhere else is “Finno-Ugric” a normal word in everyday conversation. Estonians might find this all self-evident, but cross the border in any direction, you will hardly find anybody who knows who the Finno-Ugrians are. Not even in Finno-Ugric countries.

I’ve lived in all of them. In Finland, being Finno-Ugric plays a much smaller role in the national identity than in Estonia. Finns generally consider themselves Nordic, and are usually much more preoccupied with whatever Sweden is doing than any of their Finno-Ugric relatives. Approximately half of the Finns I met had ever heard about being related to Hungarians, and few of them could name any other Finno-Ugric nation than Estonians, or maybe Karelians (in case they don’t consider the latter Finns).

In Hungary, the situation is much worse. Hungarians hardly see any similarity with any of their linguistic relatives – and as a thousand-year empire, nor do they really want to.  “Relatives that smell like fish” is a common Hungarian slur when talking about Finno-Ugric relatedness. Most of them believe the conspiracy theory that the Finno-Ugric relation was invented by the Habsburgs in the 18th century to humiliate our proud nation. This sentiment has been amplified under Viktor Orbán’s government, during which school textbooks have been rewritten to – unscientifically – depict the linguistic affinity to Finno-Ugrians as one of the possible, but likely false origin theories of the Hungarians.

So what is it about Estonia? Why do Estonians seem to care, even enjoy being Finno-Ugric?

First, Estonia is in the golden center in almost every aspect. In peacetime, it is relatively easily accessible from Finland, Hungary and Russia. It also has cultural similarities with all three of these countries, more than they have with each other. I know people from all three countries that chose Estonia as their new home over the other options because of this feeling of familiarity. (And I don’t mean the Russian language – most Finno-Ugrians learn Estonian quite fast.) Most importantly, it is the third most populous Finno-Ugric language, and the smallest with a country on its own.

As a result, Estonians can empathize with the smaller Finno-Ugric nations in a way Finns and Hungarians can’t. Estonians know what it is like to be overlooked, not taken seriously, harassed and oppressed by an empire. Estonians also know survival is not for granted but requires work. By work I mean making the choice of speaking and cultivating their language, because nobody else will do that for them. Therefore I find that Estonians’ attitude to their mother tongue is highly personal, which resonates well with the minorities under Russian rule.

Linguistic affinity is just one way of being related to other people. If we took genetics or culture, Estonians’ closest relatives would be Latvians. But somehow, linguistic affinity was the notion that great identity builders, such as those during the National Awakening, or later in the 20th century Lennart Meri or Veljo Tormis or even more recently Valdur Mikita would put the greatest emphasis on, and make it the centerpiece of the Estonian soul. As such, it has many aspects that could be (and is) examined scientifically, but I’m more fascinated by the real-life consequences of this core principle.

One of them is this never-fading public interest towards Finno-Ugric peoples. Another is the solid government support for Finno-Ugric scientific and cultural initiatives. Yet another was the Veelinnurahvaste Programm, a grant system for talented Finno-Ugrians to start their studies in Estonia, resulting in, among others, flourishing Mari and Udmurt communities in the country. Others got political asylum and a welcoming community here after being harassed in their homeland in Russia.

Estonians tend to see themselves as small and peripheral, but in the Finno-Ugric world, they have every reason to consider themselves large and central.

These times are not the easiest to love Russian subjects, or Hungarians. It would be a lie to deny that many Finno-Ugrians believe the Kremlin propaganda and support the war. They are also much more likely to be mobilized than ethnic Russians, as the Kremlin deliberately selects them to be drafted. Hungary keeps being Russia’s Trojan horse in the EU, trying to push through the Russian agenda and paralyzing the democratic institutions to the best of its abilities. Yet, most Estonians keep displaying a warm and welcoming attitude towards their kin. This reminds me that one day all Putins and Orbáns will die, but we will still be related, and maybe even better things will come. Maybe we will need each other. Maybe we already do.

A Sami woman pulled me to the side last October in ERM. In her home area in Norway, she constantly struggles with ignorance and disinterest towards Sami culture. She told me she could have never imagined so much care and investment in Finno-Ugric issues as she has experienced here. And although she really appreciated the advice and ideas she was given during her visit, at that point all she wanted was to go home and process the fact that a place like this exists. This year, ERM has already a working relationship and concrete plans established with her. This is Estonia. The center of the Finno-Ugric world.