The article is devoted to the problem of preserving the language and culture of the Vepsian people. The author proceeds from the fact that the situation with the languages of the small peoples of the Russian Federation is close to critical. Dependence of demographic and language situation in a small ethnic group on the state policy is shown. The author points out to the positive experience of the policy of indigenization, which was conducted by the Soviet state from the beginning of the 1920s to the end of the 1930s with the aim of political, cultural and economic development of national minorities. It is reported that as a result of this policy, the census of 1926 and 1939 showed the highest number of Vepsians: 32.8 and 29.7 thousand respectively. It is stated that with the deterioration of the national policy in late 1937 the degradation of the ethnos began, which continues nowadays. The author shows that the Veps are disunited, economically and politically unprotected in their original territories, there is a loss of carriers, the language environment disappears, the language loses the main function - to be a means of communication. Measures are proposed to prevent the further loss of the Vepsian population and the preservation of the language environment. The author emphasizes the decisive role of the state in the development, protection and strengthening of small ethnic groups and their languages.