There’s been much talk about “Finno-Ugric” this past year in the Copper Country. The first part might ring a bell — it must be about Finns. The second part — not so much. So what is it and what does it mean for the Copper Country?

Finno-Ugric refers to a group of peoples found mostly within Northern Europe and Hungary; these people have related languages and cultures. Many Finno-Ugric peoples share remarkably similar traditions, such as sauna bathing and instruments resembling the Finnish-Karelian kantele.

“Finno-” refers to the numerous Finnic peoples in Northern Europe, such as the Finns,

Karelians, Sámi, Kvens, and Estonians. The last part, “-Ugric,” refers to the Hungarian, Khanty, and Mansi peoples, who share similarities with one another, but not always with their Finnic cousins.

According to Dr. Natalia Abrosimova of the Tallinn University School of Humanities, there are approximately 25 million people in the world who speak a Finno-Ugric language. That’s about the same amount of people as the entire population of Australia!

Since 2015, there has been a yearly tradition of naming one city, town, or village as the year’s Finno-Ugric Capital of Culture. This annual program, spearheaded by the Uralic Centre, highlights the local Finno-Ugric culture and this title has previously been carried by locations in Finland, Estonia, Russia, and Hungary.

In June 2025, Hancock was chosen as the Finno-Ugric Capital of Culture for 2026. The very first location outside of Europe to receive this title, Hancock’s award signified an expansion of the Finno-Ugric world to include the global diasporas of Finno-Ugric peoples.

For more than 100 years, Hancock has been home to a lively Finnish-American community and is known as the “pesäpaikka,” the nesting place of Finnish culture in America. While many other locations throughout the country have also seen their share of Finnish immigrants, Hancock has made its name as a concentrated center of Finnish-American culture with around 40 percent of its population having ancestors from Finland.

Most of today’s Finnish-Americans here can trace their roots back to the several waves of Finns who left their homeland to work in mines throughout the Copper Country. The earliest of these were Finns who had already migrated from Finland to northern Norway, to a region called Finnmark where there had also been copper mines. These people are known today as Kvens.

The community in the Copper Country is not only Finnish-American. At our roots, we are also Kven, Sámi, Karelian, Swede-Finns, Tornedalians, Hungarians, Estonians, and beyond. We also can’t forget the “Finnterested,” those who don’t have Finno-Ugric heritage, but who are deeply involved with the local Finnish-American culture. Together, we are the individual threads that have stood the test of time to create a colorful tapestry of Finno-Ugric peoples in the Copper Country.

Created to represent the diverse Finno-Ugric cultures, the mascot of the Capitals of Culture is the Tsirk, a wooden bird sculpture which is transferred between the capitals each year. The journey from Narva, Estonia (2025’s location) to Hancock was the longest journey that the Tsirk had ever made.

The Tsirk was designed by a Votic craftsman from the Lake Peipsi region and derives its name from the Seto word for bird. Each of its carved feathers represents a different Finno-Ugric group.

The bird symbol was chosen for this purpose because of the shared creation myths of several Finno-Ugric peoples– including Finns, Ingrians, Karelians, and Estonians– in which the world begins from bird eggs.

In just a few days, kindred peoples from all over the Finno-Ugric world will be traveling to Hancock for the annual Juhannus midsummer festival. Just as we Finnish-Americans are curious to find out about our cousins across the ocean, they are also interested to learn more about Finnish America and its history.

This year’s Juhannus is set to be overflowing with workshops, musical performances, games, presentations, Finnish-American delicacies, and much. The week will culminate in the Juhannus kokko (the bonfire) and the announcement of the location of the 2027 Finno-Ugric Capital of Culture, the Tsirk’s next home.

Only six months into the year, the 2026 Capital of Culture title has already brought new and international attention to Hancock. From National Geographic to the Estonian World, many are hearing about Hancock for the first time. A message has been sent worldwide that the Finno-Ugric spirit is strong in the Copper Country.

What does it mean to be Finno-Ugric? It means to be a part of a resilient community, whether Finnish, Hungarian, Estonian, Kven, Sámi, or Finnterested, who cherish their culture and carry the flame for the next generation.

And, what does it mean to be a Capital of Culture? When this festival year ends in December and the Tsirk makes its flight elsewhere, Hancock and the people at its heart will be forever woven into the great quilt of Finno-Ugric history.