Upper Reka

The Upper Reka (Template:Lang-mk; Template:Country data Reka e Epërme) is a sub-region of the broader Reka region of western Republic of Macedonia, including settlements within the upper left portion of the Municipality of Mavrovo and Rostuša.

Geography

The broader Reka region is also divided into Mala (small), Golema (large) and Dolna Reka (lower) sub-regions (ethnographic regions).^[1]

In upper Reka settlements include Tanuše, Nivište, Grekaj, Ribnica, Žužnje, Nistrovo, Bibaj, Ničpur, Volkovija, Trnica, Kičinica, Vrben, Bogdevo.

History

In 1913, the Muslim Albanians of the region led by Muslim imam Mali Mama rose up against the Serb forces.^[2]

Demographics

Upper Reka is inhabited by people referred to by Macedonians as Gornorekanci (demonym)^[1] and Rekalinj (demonym) by Albanians. Today the majority of inhabitants are Muslim Albanians, with a minority of Orthodox Albanian speakers who self-identify as Macedonians.^[3] The adjacent Lower Reka or Dolna Reka region is inhabited by Macedonian Muslims (known as "Torbeši" or "Turks" i.e Muslims), while a minority are Orthodox Macedonians and both belong to the ethnographic group of Mijaks, who speak the Reka dialect.

The sub-region of Upper Reka was historically inhabited by Albanian speaking populations. They were referred to as Shkreti ^[4] from the Albanian word and expression shkretë/i shkret meaning the poor ones by outsiders due to their isolated mountainous homeland.^[5] Of those Albanian speaking populations who remained Christian Orthodox, they assimilated into and self identify as Macedonians,^[6] while those who embraced Islam consider themselves Albanians.

Culture

Orthodox feast days

The Orthodox of Upper Reka, particularly those of Ničpur, celebrate St. Athanasius on January 31 (Julian calendar).^[7] In Bibaj, the Orthodox celebrated Saint Mary in the Winter (Shën Meria e Dimrit).^[8] In Kičinica, the Orthodox celebrated Saint George of the Winter (Shën Gjergj e Dimrit).^[9]

Notable people

Josif Bageri, a 19th-century Albanian national awakening activist
Vidoe Smilevski, politician
Mateja Matevski, writer

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References

^ ^a ^b Dimitrije Bužarovski; Rumena Bužarovska (2004). Contemporary Trends in Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Third Struga Conference. University "Sts.Kiril i Metodij", School of music, Institut for research and archiving of music (IRAM). p. 46.
^ Sherafedin Kaso (2005). The settlements with muslim population in Macedonia. Logos-A. pp. 328–. ISBN 978-9989-58-155-7.
^ Pieroni, Andrea, et al (2013). "One century later: the folk botanical knowledge of the last remaining Albanians of the upper Reka Valley, Mount Korab, Western Macedonia." Journal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine, 9. (1): 2-3. "Locals are now exclusively Muslims, but Albanians of Christian Orthodox faith also lived in the villages until a few decades ago. For example, in Nistrovë, one side of the village (with a mosque) is inhabited by Muslims, while the other side was inhabited by Orthodox believers. The entire population of Orthodox Christians migrated to towns a few decades ago, but they return to their village homes sometimes during the summer. Most of the houses in this part of the village are however abandoned even though the Church has been recently restored. According to our (Albanian Muslim) informants, these migrated Orthodox Christian Albanians assimilated within the Macedonian culture and now prefer to be labelled as “Macedonians”, even if they are still able to fluently speak Albanian. Contact between these two subsets of the village communities, which were very intense and continuous in the past, no longer exists today."
^ Thammy Evans (2012). Macedonia, 4th. Bradt Travel Guides. p. 48. ISBN 978-1-84162-395-5. The Gorna (Upper) Reka region, from the village Brodec to the village Volkovija is mostly abandoned today, but, in the past, was inhabited by Albanian-speaking Macedonians, called Shkreti
^ Murati, Qemal (2011), ‘Gjuha e humbur: Vëzhgime historike, linguistike, onomastike dhe folklorike rreth shqiptarëve ortodoksë në etnoregjionin e Rekës së Epërme të Mavrovës [Lost Language: Historical, Linguistic, Onomastic and Folkloric observations about the Orthodox Albanians in ethno-region of Upper Reka in Mavrovo]’, Studime Albanonlogjike, 3: 122. “Ajo më përgjigjet që mund të rridhte nga shqipja “shkretë”. [She answers that it stems from Albanian "desolate, poor one".]; p. 123. “Namik Durmishi, mësimdhënës në Universitetin e Tetovës, edhe vetë nga Zhuzhnja e Rekës së Epërme, në një lagje të quajtur Durtllok tëGostivarit, të populluar kryesisht me rekas ortodoksë nga të kësaj krahine, maqedonasit atyre u thonë si me përbuzje Shkreta/ Shkreti: Kaj si bre škreta, me cilësimin pezhorativ “shqiptarë të shkretë, që kanë ardhur nga një krahinë e shkretë, njerëz viranë”. [Namik Durmishi, teaching at the University of Tetovo, who also is from Žužnje, Upper Reka in a neighbourhood called Durtlok in Gostivar, populated mostly by Orthodox Rekans cites that Macedonians when referring to them in disdain say Shkreta/Shkreti: Where are you from Shkreti, which has pejorative connotations of "the poor Albanian who came from a desolate region, an abandoned people ".]”
^ Dimitar Bechev (13 April 2009). Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Macedonia. Scarecrow Press. pp. 188–. ISBN 978-0-8108-6295-1. "Several villages in the Upper Reka subregion were, in the past, populated by Orthodox Albanian speakers who have been largely assimilated by the Slavic Macedonians."
^ Balkanistica 2000, p. 46
^ Balkanistica 2000, p. 40
^ Balkanistica 2000, p. 45

Sources

Balkanistica. Slavica Publishers. 2000.