Áile Aikio receives Kindred Peoples’ Research Award 2026
Our researcher Áile Aikio has received the Kindred Peoples’ Research Award 2026 in the Uralic Studies category. The award, announced by the Eesti Keele Instituut on 21 October, recognises outstanding scholarly work by Uralic researchers.
We are delighted to share that MultiBEING researcher Áile Aikio (University of Lapland) has received the Kindred Peoples’ Research Award 2026 in the Uralic Studies category.
The award was granted for her doctoral dissertation, Saamelainen museo? Tutkimus saamelaisen kulttuuriperinnön ontologisesta politiikasta (A Sámi Museum? A Study of the Ontological Politics of Sámi Cultural Heritage), defended at the University of Lapland in 2023.
In her research, Aikio examines the representation of Sámi culture and cultural heritage in museum exhibitions, focusing on questions of self-representation, decolonisation and the role of Indigenous perspectives in museum practice. The jury highlighted the broader relevance of her work for contemporary discussions on cultural heritage and museum development.
“Aikio’s doctoral thesis clearly demonstrates how Indigenous people can reclaim the right to represent themselves when developing permanent museum exhibitions”, says Art Leete, Professor of Ethnology at the University of Tartu.
Similarly, jury member Marju Kõivupuu notes: “Aikio’s research takes as its theoretical starting point the idea that cultural heritage is not something that exists independently, but something shaped through heritage practices. In this regard, museums play a particularly important role in shaping cultural heritage and its future”.
The 2026 Kindred Peoples’ Research Awards recognise outstanding scholarly work by Uralic researchers. This year, Sámi researchers received awards in both categories. “This demonstrates the growing prominence of Sámi scholars and the development of academic writing in Sámi”, said Helin Kask, Chair of the Committee.
The Kindred People’s Programme is an Estonian state programme that supports the languages and cultures of Finno-Ugric and Samoyedic Indigenous peoples. It applies to the Finno-Ugric – Livonians, Votes, Ludians, Izhorians, Ingrian Finns, Karelians, Veps, Sámi, Erzya, Moksha, Mari, Udmurts, Komi, Khanty, Mansi – and Samoyedic – Nenets, Enets, Nganasans and Selkups – kindred peoples who have their own languages and cultures but no independent state of their own. The aim of the Award is to recognise academic works in cultural and Indigenous studies by Uralic peoples without their own statehood.
Congratulations to Áile on this well-deserved recognition!
Read the full press release: https://eki.ee/uudis/kindred-peoples-research-awards-2026-went-to-sami-researchers/
📸 Photo: Ville Ranta
