ABSTRACT
Such are the stories of a group of peoples who have in common a distant linguistic kinship, a vaguely common geographical location, and awareness of facing the same predicament. Some of them are vanishing slivers; others are cultural nations in the making; while most are in a wide grey zone between. Without a miracle, the Tver Karelians will be assimilated. Without a catastrophe, the Maris will become a nation. What is clear is that despite contradictory signals and short-term fluctuations, the treatment of eastern Finno-Ugric peoples will be an early indicator for the deeper currents of Russian movement towards democracy.
