In the heart of Michigan’s Copper Country, the word “Finno‑Ugric” has suddenly taken center stage. It is a term that brings together distant peoples — Finns, Karelians, Sámi, Estonians, Hungarians, Khanty, Mansi and many others — united by languages and traditions that stretch across Northern Europe and Siberia. According to Dr. Natalia Abrosimova of Tallinn University, around 25 million people speak a Finno‑Ugric language: a vast, resilient and surprisingly cohesive cultural constellation.