Mijaks

Mijaks
Мијаци
Mijaci

Total population
30,000 - 60,000
Regions with significant populations
Radika region, Mavrovo, Rostuša
Languages
Macedonian
Religion
Macedonian Orthodox
Related ethnic groups
Macedonian people, Macedonian Muslims

Mijaks (Macedonian: Мијаци, Mijaci) are an ethnographic group of ethnic Macedonians who live in the so-called Mijačija area (Dolna Reka), along the Radika river, in western Macedonia, numbering 30,000-60,000 people. The Mijaks are predominantly working with animal husbandry, and are known for their ecclesiastical architecture, woodworking, icon painting, and other rich traditions, as well as their characteristic Galičnik dialect of the Macedonian language.

Settlements

Typical Mijak architecture

The Mijaks have traditionally occupied the Reka region along with the Torbeš, another sub-group of Macedonians. The area including the Bistra mountain and Radika region has been termed "Mijačija" (Macedonian: Мијачија). The region borders the Brsjak region to the west, also an ethnographic area.

The most well known Mijak villages are Galičnik and Lazaropole. Other major Mijak villages are Selce, Tresonče, Rosoki, Sušica, Gari and Osoj. However the majoriy of these villages are uninhabitated as the majority of the inhabitants left during the 20th century. Large Mijak concentrations can still be found in certain villages around Debar and Bitola. The villages Oreše, Paparadište and Melnica in the Tito Veles region were populated by Mijaci during the Turkish occupation of Macedonia.^[1] The village of Smilevo, in the Bitola region, is also considered to be a Mijak village, in regards to its architecture and history.^[2] The north-western quarter of Kruševo was populated by Mijaks.^[3]

Many villages in Mijačija are now uninhabited due to population shift towards the cities.

History

Their ethnonym is unclear.^[4] Slavs were known as having conquered most of Macedonia in the 6th century, their territory was conquered before 785, when Constantine VI holds the Sclaviniae of Macedonia (Sclavenias penes Macedoniam). Eventually their nomadic lifestyle transformed into an agriculturally and industrial based one.^[5] Their area of settlement roughly corresponds with the Reka regions and along the river Radika.

A proportion of Mijaks converted to Islam during the 16th and 17th centuries, and they are known by the name Torbeši.^[6][7] In the first half of the 19th century, a notable part were Albanianized, and also, the Islamized population of Galicnik was re-christianized in 1843.^[4]

In 1822, an unpublished lexiographical work by Panajot Ginovski, "Mijački rečnik po našem govoru", was written, containing 20 000 words.^[8]

After the Treaty of San Stefano (March 3, 1878), the Debar county, along with 11 other counties of Slavic Macedonia, sent deputies and appeals to Prince Milan of Serbia (r. 1868-1889), asking him to annex the region to Serbia.^[9] This was made after the Principality of Bulgaria received most of the Macedonia region by the Ottoman Empire, and the earlier establishment and expansion of the Bulgarian Exarchate (February 28, 1870; in 1874, Skopje and Ohrid voted in favour of the Exarchate).

During the Ilinden uprising in Kruševo (August 2-3, 1903), a known Mijak involved was Veljo Pecan.^[10]

Culture

Intricate Mijak woodcarving in Saint Jovan Bigorski Monastery.

The Mijaks are well known for the extent to which old customs are preserved in their every day life. However the act of "Pečalba" or seasonal work, was a deeply entrenched tradition of the Mijaks. Males in their 20s would often leave the village for months, or even years, at a time in order to work in more prosperous regions and create wealth for the family. It can be attributed to this that most of the Mijak villages are deserted or sparsely populated.

Mijaks had mastered the craft of woodcarving, and for many years a wood carving school operated in the Mala Reka region. They were responsible for the intricate wood carving which is found inside the Saint Jovan Bigorski Monastery, which is considered to the be best in Republic of Macedonia.

The Galičnik Wedding Festival (Галичка свадба) is the name of a traditional wedding and its characteristic ceremony, which is annually held on Petrovden (St. Peter feast day, 12 July), in which a couple is chosen to receive the wedding and be shown on national television. The Teškoto oro (lit. "the hard one"), a shepherd folk dance of the Mijaks, is one of the national dances of the Republic of Macedonia.

Some Mijaks believe that Skanderbeg, the Albanian military commander, hails from Mijačija.^[11]

Architecture

Mijak architecture has become a defining factor in the culture of the Mijaks. The Mijaks were among the most skilled masons^[12] and they helped wealthy Aromanians construct Kruševo into a large prosperous beautiful city in the 18th century. Apart from some masons from the Kriva Palanka region, they were the most proficient in all of Macedonia and the Balkans. The Saint Jovan Bigorski Monastery is built in the Mijak style.

Language

Further information: Galičnik dialect and Reka dialect

The Mijaks traditionally speak the Galičnik dialect and Reka dialect. It has however been suggested that they were originally Aromanian speakers(Vlachs)^{[citation needed]} who assimilated into the South-Slavic Macedonian society. Macedonian historians are still uncertain as to whether the Mijaks did change from Aromanian to Slav speaking. This theory still needs more research relating to the Mijaks tribes. Typical characteristics of the "Mijački govor" (Macedonian: Мијачки говор), Mijak Speech, include:

Mijak speech	Standard Macedonian	English	Notes
žamija	džamija	mosque	reduced use of the phenome "dž" to only "ž"
roka	raka	hand	the Big Yus is prounounced as a "o" and not an "a" as in Standard Macedonian
tužda/tuža	tugja	foreign	use of the phenome "ž" or "žd" in place of the standard Macedonian "gj"
trebuvad/trebit	treba	need	use of the suffix "-t" or "-d" for third person singular
stavajed	stavaat	they place	use of the suffix "-ajed" for third person singular
glagolj	zbor	word	derived from Old Slavonic; "Glagolithic"

Ethnography

According to Serbian ethnographer Jovan Cvijić, writing in 1922, the Mijaks had preserved a Serb consciousness; the older generation knew of the Battle of Kosovo (1389) and Tsar Lazar, and still had the Serbian feast days and sung the epic poetry regarding that time. However, due to heavy Bulgarisation (Bulgarian Exarchate, etc) the songs are rarely sung as in earlier times. The Mijaks are very known to Prince Marko, who according to them was "born in Legen-grad" (of which ruins exist above the Torbeš village of Prisojnica). From the same place, they say, a "Vojvoda Damjan" went and fought at Kosovo. Also, they have songs regarding the founding of the Hilandar monastery on Mount Athos. Every family has the slava (служба, veneration of protecting family saint). The center of spiritual life is in the Saint Jovan Bigorski Monastery, of which interior is related to the Serbian history (in an ethnic designation, Serb): there is a very old memorial, describing its history, which only speaks of the rulers of the Nemanjić dynasty and the Serbian archbishops. Also, the external frescoes depict only Serbian rulers until the Battle of Kosovo, painted by a peasant from Lazaropole. The history of the monastery, and the Mijaks themselves, shows that they were always striving for independence. They constantly opposed the use of Greek as liturgical language in the churches, and when the Bulgarian Exarchate was imposed in the region, the Mijak monks maintained complete ecclesiastical freedom, and kept all old Serbian monuments of the St. John's monastery.^[13]

See also

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References

1. ^ THE MULTICULTURAL AND ETHNIC CHARACTERISTICS OF FOUR VILLAGES IN THE VELES REGION - REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA, Aneta SVETIEVA
2. ^ 100 Years Ilinden Uprising - Smilevo, Monument of Culture
3. ^ Brown, Keith (2003). The past in question: modern Macedonia and the uncertainties of nation. Princeton University Press. pp. 85. ISBN 0691099952. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Bernath-Nehring (1988), p. 392
5. ^ Linda, Welters (1999). Folk dress in Europe and Anatolia: beliefs about protection and fertility. Berg Publishers. pp. 100. ISBN 1859732879. 
6. ^ Reka.org.mk, Who are the Macedonian Muslims? (Кои се македонските муслимани?)
7. ^ Bernath-Nehring (1988), p. 417
8. ^ "Macedonian review, Vol 1–2", 1971, p. 307
9. ^ T R Georgevitch, p. 182
10. ^ Keith Brown, "The past in question: modern Macedonia and the uncertainties of nation" (2003), p. 82
11. ^ Ѓорѓија Кастриот - Искендер крал на Епир и Македонија и втор Александар Македонски“ од д-р Петар Поповски.
12. ^ Brown, Keith (2003). The past in question: modern Macedonia and the uncertainties of nation. Princeton University Press. pp. 262. ISBN 0691099952. 
13. ^ "У погледу историске свести код њих има само трагова старе српске прошлости. Старији људи знају за косовску погибију и за „цара" Лазара и о „службама" (славама) још се певају песме којима се слави ово доба. Али сада, после јаке бугарске пропаганде, ређе их певају но у раније време. Мијаци врло много знају о Краљевићу Марку, за кога веле, да је родом „од Леген-град". Изнад торбешког села Присојнице има развалина од града. Мијаци причају, да је одатле војвода Дамјан отишао у бој на Косову. Имају и песме о зидању српског манастира Хилендара у Светој гори. Свака породица има славу („службу"). Средиште мијачког духовног живота је манастир Св. Јована Бигорског. Све што у њему има везано је у националном погледу за српску историју. У њему је врло стари поменик, ванредно лепо писан на пергаменту, чувен са своје израде, у коме је историја овог манастира; у њему се помињу само српски владаоци од лозе Немањића и српски архиепископи. Исто тако су на живопису на спољашњим манастирским зидовима насликани само српски владаоци до Косовске битке. Те је слике радио сељак зоограф из Лазаропоља. Уз то историја овог манастира, као и самих Мијака, показује, да су увек тежили за самосталношћу. Стално су се противили грчком језику у служби божјој. Кад се и њима хтела да наметне бугарска егзархија, њихови су калуђери умели одржати потпуну слободу према новој цркви и сачувати све српске старине којих је било у манастиру". Јован Цвијић, Балканско полуострво и Јужнословенске земље, Мијачка група (западномакедонски варијетет), Београд 1922, стр. 117. -. Вид. http://www.promacedonia.org/serb/cvijc/cvijic_balkansko_poluostrvo_2.pdf Балканско полуострво и Јужнословенске земље (2. део)].