The Spaçi or Spaqi tribe is an

Albanian tribe The Albanian tribes () form a historical mode of social organization (''farefisní'') in Albania and the southwestern Balkans characterized by a common culture, often common patrilineal kinship ties and shared social ties. The ''fis'' ( sq-defini ...

and one of the bajraks of the ethnographic

Mirdita Mirdita is a region of northern Albania whose territory is synonymous with the historic Albanian tribe of the same name. Etymology The name Mirdita derives from a legendary ancestor named Mir Diti from whom the tribe claims descent. Other a ...

region in northern central

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

. The Spaçi tribe were one of the three traditional bajraks of Mirdita, which has now increased to five.

Geography

Spaçi tribal territory is situated in the

municipality as well as the Gjegjan subdivision of

Pukë Pukë ( sq-definite, Puka) is a town and municipality in northern Albania. It was formed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Gjegjan, Pukë, Qelëz, Qerret and Rrapë, that became municipal units. Th ...

municipality. Spaçi borders the

Kabashi The Kabashi (the definite form of Kabash) are an Albanian tribe, or ''fis'', from the Pukë region. It is considered part of the "seven tribes of Puka" (Albanian: shtatë bajrakët e Pukës) that inhabit the region. Durham said of them: "Puka ...

, Puka, Dibrri and

Kushneni The Kushneni or Kuzhneni tribe are an Albanian tribes, Albanian tribe and one of the traditional bajraks of the Mirdita region in northern central Albania. The Kushneni tribe were one of the three traditional bajraks of Mirdita, which has now incr ...

tribes to the west, the Thaçi tribe to the north, the Mali i Zi and Fani tribes to the east, and the

Oroshi is the Japanese term for a wind blowing strong down the slope of a mountain, occasionally as strong gusts of wind which can cause damage. ''Oroshi'' is a strong local wind across the Kanto Plain on the Pacific Ocean side of central Honshu. This ...

tribe to the south. The main settlements of the Spaçi tribe are

Fushë-Arrëz Fushë-Arrëz (; sq-definite, Fushë-Arrëzi) is a municipality and town in Shkodër County, northwestern Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on ...

, Gojan, Kalivare, Gjegjan, Dom, Kimëz and Spaç.

Origins

The ancestral father of the Spaçi tribe was Dodë Biba, son of Bib Kola. Dodë was the brother of Mark Biba, the ancestral father of the

tribe, and Gjin Biba, the ancestral father of the

tribe. As such, Spaçi was one of the three traditional bajraks of Mirdita before the number increased to five. All three sons hailed from the Pashtrik region near

Gjakova Gjakova or Đakovica, ) and Đakovica ( sr-Cyrl, Ђаковица, ) is the sixth largest city of Kosovo and seat of the Gjakova Municipality and the District of Gjakova, Gjakova District. According to the 2024 census, the municipality of Gjakov ...

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

, from where they migrated to what is now Oroshi tribal territory in Mirdita.

History

The term 'Spaçi' occurs as 'Spacci' in the 1866 memoir of French diplomat Emile Wiet. The tribe's traditional meeting place was in Kalivari. In 1892, the tribe's bajraktar was Ndoc Ndreca, the lieutenant of the

kaymakam Kaymakam, also known by #Names, many other romanizations, was a title used by various officials of the Ottoman Empire, including acting grand viziers, governors of provincial sanjaks, and administrators of district kazas. The title has been reta ...

of Mirdita. In 1903, Austrian engineer Karl Steinmetz recorded that the Spaçi consisted of 650 families. In a census taken in Albania in 1918 during the period of

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

administration, the population statistics of the Spaçi tribe consisted of 4,230 inhabitants in 598 households. These statistics covered the following settlements and their surroundings: Breg, Doç, Gjegjan, Gojan, Gomsiqja, Kalivarja, Kimza, Kisha e Arstit, Lumbardha, Mesul, Qafa e Malit, Shkoza, Spaç and Tuç.

Religion

The Spaçi tribe is traditionally an entirely Catholic tribe, whose patron saint is Saint Nicholas.

Relation with other tribes

Due to the fact that the Spaçi tribe is one of the original three bajraks of Mirdita alongside Kushneni and Oroshi, members of the three tribes are consanguineous and therefore do not intermarry with each other. Members of the Spaçi can, however, intermarry with members of the Dibrri or Fani, the other two bajraks of Mirdita.

References

{{reflist Tribes of Albania