Albanian Americans descend from ancient Illyrians. They began migrating to the US in the early 20th century to escape poor economic conditions and military conscription. The largest wave was after WWII and communism took control of Albania. Today there are over 193,000 Albanian Americans living in the US, with the largest populations in New York, Michigan, and Illinois. Albanian Americans work to maintain their cultural traditions through schools, festivals, dance groups, and radio programs. Their culture is influenced by patriarchy, blood feuds, and the Kanun legal code.

1. Albanian
Americans

2. Origination
• “According to the Austrian linguist Gustav Meyer (1850–
1900), shqip ("Albanian language"), shqiptar ("Albanian"), and
Shqipëria ("Albania") are related to the Albanian verb shqipoj
("to speak clearly") and shqiptoj ("to pronounce") and can be
linked to the Latin excipio and excipere ("to listen to, take
up, hear"). The Albanologist Maximilian Lambertz (1882–1963)
preferred a connection with the Albanian shqipe or shqiponjë
("eagle"), which is the symbol of Albania. The latter explanation
may, however, simply be a folk etymology or constitute the
reason why Albanians identify themselves with the eagle.”
("Countries and their," 2012)
• The name Albania was given by the Romans in the ancient
times after a port called Albanopolis, but the Albanians
themselves call their country Shiqiptare ("Sons of the Eagle").

3. History
• Albanians descend from the ancient Illyrians.
• They were conquered by the Romans in the third
century A.D.
• They were incorporated into the Byzantine Empire in
395 A.D. and were subjected to foreign invasions.
• In 1468 Albania became part of the Ottoman
Empire.
• In the early nineteenth century their fight for
independence intensified.

4. history
• “During World War I, Albania became a protectorate
of the Great Powers after a short period of
independence in 1912.” (Jurgen, 2012)
• In 1920 it regained its independence first as a
republic then in 1928 as a monarchy.
• In 1939 Italy invaded and occupied Albania.
• After WWII it regained it’s independence but under a
communist regime.

5. History
• In 1997 an armed rebellion against the government
occurred after 30% of the population endured
damaged savings due to investment pyramid
schemes.
• United Nations military intervention allowed for new
elections, and a new socialist alliance government.

6. The first Albanian Americans
• Few Albanians came to the United States before the
twentieth century.
• They are the most recent group to migrate to the
United States.
• Prior to WW1 they migrated to American because of
poor economic conditions, political concerns, or to
escape military conscription in the Turkish army.
• Another wave of Albanians migrated after Albania
came under Communist control in 1944.

7. • Between 1990-1991, after the fall of communism
more Albanians began to enter America.
• The implementation of the Green Card lottery was
another factor that attributed to the increase of
Albanians migrating to America in the 1990’s.
• After New York, Michigan, and Illinois,
Massachusetts is the fourth largest of the Albanian
communities in America.

8. Albanian Cultural Groups
• Albanians can be divided into two cultural groups;
the northern Albanians also known as Ghegs, and
the southern Albanians also known as Tosks.
• Dialect and cultural differences divide the two
groups.
• Both groups identify strongly with the common
national and ethnic culture.

9. Their Culture
• The eagle is the national symbol of the Albanians. It is a symbol of
freedom and heroism in their oral literature and folklore. Albanians refer to
themselves as the “Sons of the Eagle”.
• “The eagle appears in a stone carving dating from 1190, the time of the
so-called first Albanian principality, known as Arbanon, and was used as a
heraldic symbol by a number of ruling families in Albania in the late Middle
Ages, including the Castriotta (Kastrioti), the Muzakaj (Myzeqe), and the
Dukagjini. A black double-headed eagle also was placed by the national
hero Scanderbeg on his flag and seal. This form of the eagle, deriving
from the banner of the Byzantine Empire, has been preserved as an
ethnic symbol by the Arberesh of southern Italy.” ("Countries and their,"
2012)
• The Albanian flag is red with a black double headed eagle.
• The flag was officially raised on November 28, 1912 marking the
declaration of their independence.

10. Religion
• Albanians have never had a national religion.
• Albania’s borders are divided between three
religions: Roman Catholicism, Greek Orthodoxy,
and Islam.
• “One can estimate today that approximately 70
percent of Albanians in the republic are of Muslim,
including Bektashi, background; about 20 percent,
mostly in the south, are Orthodox; and about 10
percent, mostly in the north, are Catholic.”
("Countries and their," 2012)

11. Family & Community
• Many Albanian Americans are influenced by the Kanun, which
is an ancient set of civil, criminal, and family laws.
• “It sets forth rights and obligations regarding the church, family,
and marriage. The code is based on the concepts of honor (
bessa ) and blood; the individual is obligated to guard the
honor of family, clan, and tribe. The rights and obligations
surrounding the concept of honor have often led to the blood
feud ( gjak ), which frequently lasts for generations.” (Jurgen,
2012)
• After the fall of communism American lawyers brought the code
to the attention of the Albanian lawyers to help Albania codify
their new legislation. In 1994 an article in the NY Times stated,
the code is “the central part of their legal and cultural identity.”

12. Family Roles
• A traditional Albanian household is patriarchy,
meaning the head of the household is the eldest
male.
• The principle roles of a wife consist of keeping the
house and raising the children.
• Children have the duty of honoring their parents and
respecting their wishes.
• The role of women has shifted over the years.
Today many feel caught between two worlds, feeling
obligated to conform to the standards of their
community but at the same time wanting to become
“Americanized”.

13. Women’s Role
• Girls are not given the same freedom as the boys and
are not encouraged “to go out” but rather to stay home
and learn domestic skills.
• Girls attend school through high school and are not
encouraged to pursue a higher education or career after
graduation.
• After graduating and before marriage the women often
help with the family business.
• The women’s first obligation is to marry and raise a
family.
• They usually marry at an early age.

14. Customs & Traditions
• Weddings traditionally are arranged by the parents,
intermediary, or matchmaker.
• The festivities begin a week prior to the wedding. They
include: an engagement ceremony; celebrations at the bride
and grooms households; and relatives visiting and preparing
food.
• After the ceremony a reception follows. Around midnight the
bride and groom go in opposite directions with their family and
friends and fill two containers from three different bodies of
water. At each body of water coins are tossed for anyone to
pick up.
• Birthdays are not traditionally observed. Instead the family
observes “names day” for the saint after whom the person is
named. The person can be wished, “happy nameday” or “good
health and a long life”.

15. Health & Wellness
• Some Albanians believe that illness is caused by unfavorable
climate, poor eating, or physical or psychological oppression.
• A lack of familiarity with mental illness leads many to believe it
stems from evil.
• Albanians believe that telling the patient directly of the
condition may make it worse.
• Albanians may not want to bathe or wash their hair due to the
belief that they may get sick.
• Due to infrequent utilization of healthcare in their native country
they are often reluctant to seek services and therefore may
present with chronic conditions.

16. Economic Traditions
• Albanians that came to the US were either from rural areas and
farmed or urban areas and worked as small shopkeepers and
tradesmen.
• A large population who settled in Massachusetts found work
the American Optical Company in Southbridge or the textile
mills of New Bedford. Others worked as cooks, waiters, and
bellhops.
• They soon began to open their own businesses. The most
successful were fruit stores and restaurants. By 1925
Albanians owned over 300 grocery and fruit stores in the
Greater Boston area.
• Today Albanians are employed in a variety of professions and
enterprises.

17. Statistics
• According to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data,
there are 3,190 Albanian-American living in Boston;
15, 852 Albanians living in Massachusetts; and
193,183 total number of Albanian-Americans living
in the United States.
• Of these Albanians-Americans, 107,108 are
Albanian born citizen, and 86,075 are a U.S. born
citizen.

18. Barriers to Education
• The Albanian school system was in chaos in 1991 due to
widespread vandalism and an extreme shortage of
textbooks and supplies.
• Many teachers relocated from rural to urban areas.
• “The highly structured and controlled educational
environment that the communist regime had
painstakingly cultivated in the course of more than forty-
six years was abruptly shattered and had to be rebuilt.”
(Jurgen, 2012)
• There has also been an effort to adopt the Western
model where the student is the center of the education
system opposed to the current Eastern model where the
teacher holds the dominant role.

19. Barriers to Education
• Albanian women were not encouraged to pursue an
education or career after high school like the men
were.
• Education was not viewed with the same importance
and value as it is in America.
• Albanian Americans did not want their children to go
to American schools when they first arrived here.
• Gradually they accepted the fact that an education
provided the foundation for a better way of life in
America.

20. cultural competence
• “Cultural competence is the ability to successfully teach
students who come from cultures other than our own. It
entails developing certain personal and interpersonal
awareness and sensitivities, developing certain bodies of
cultural knowledge, and mastering a set of skills that,
taken together, underlie effective cross-cultural teaching.”
("Promoting educators' cultural," 2008)
• States can increase their educator’s cultural competence
through: pre-service education, ongoing professional
development, and licensure
• There are four basic cultural competence skill areas that
apply to individual educators, to the schools where they
work, and to the educational system as a whole.

21. Cultural Competence
1. Valuing Diversity – Being respectful of different ways of
communication, values, traditions, cultural backgrounds, and
customs.
2. Being Culturally Self-Aware – Understanding that
educator’s own culture shapes the sense of who they are and
how they fit into their family, school, community, and society,
and how they interact with students.
3. Understanding the dynamics of cultural interactions –
being aware that there are many factors that can affect
interactions across cultures.
4. Institutionalizing cultural knowledge and adapting to
diversity – The educational services are designed with the
understanding of the students’ cultures.

22. Lesson Plan
• One of the most important aspects of Albanian immigrants was
their strong sense of nationalism and their desire to cultivate
the Albanian culture and traditions in the US.
• Ask the class, What could we do to help promote this?
Brainstorm and list ideas on the board. Group students into
groups of 4-5. Have them work together and choose one of the
ideas off the board. Making sure there are no duplicates allow
each group to choose that main idea and research it and
present their information to the class at a later date.
• Once all of the information has been shared have a discussion
as a whole group about the benefits of this exercise? Have the
class come to an understanding of how important it is to
educate yourself about other cultures. Ask them how they
could go about educating their friends, family, school, and
community about other cultures.

23. Extension of Lesson
• As an extension to this lesson, the class could work on
finding out about all of the cultures within their school.
• Once they know of the many cultures that exist among
them daily, they could be divided up into small groups
again and research the different cultures.
• Each group can present their culture and what they
learned. Encourage dressing the part, talking the part,
and acting out cultures to really get the class involved
and excited.
• Their research could also be used in a monthly school
newsletter. Everything from facts, statistics, community
resources, local events, and cultural traditions can be
addressed in the newsletter.

24. Community Resources
• Friendly House in Worcester offers programs for Albanians
• New Albanian School opened in Worcester MA, 2010
• The Albanian Language and Heritage School, Boston MA
• The Albanian Language School Kostandin Kristoforidhi, West
Roxbury MA
• Seventh Annual “Besa Cup” Albanian Soccer Tournament at
Millennium Park in West Roxbury
• Albanian Festivals (Every other year St. Mary’s Assumption
Albanian Orthodox church hosts one of areas largest festivals.
20,000 attend the three day event) (located other festivals in
Southbridge & Waterbury MA)

25. Community Resources
• Albanian American Civic League
• Albanian American National Organization (AANO).
Located in Worcester, MA.
• WCUW-FM - Albanian hour, the oldest continuous
Albanian radio program in the country. Located in
Worcester, MA.
• Bashkimi Dance group

26. Internet Resources
• http://www.lonweb.org/link-albanian.htm (Has all links for
information about and for Albanians from online courses, radio
stations, books, newspapers, and etc…)
• http://www.albanianworld.us/community.htm (website based
out of Massachusetts for Albanians)
• www.maasbesa.org/ - 2006 Non-profit Massachusetts Albanian
American Society, dedicated to promote the well-being and
progress of the Albanian American community in MA.
• www.albanianfestival.org/ - Worcester festival
• http://www.yahoo.ca/Society_and_Culture/Cultures_and_Grou
ps/Cultures/Albanian/
• http://www.albanian.com/main

27. Sources
1. Jurgen, J. (2012). Albanian Americans. Retrieved from
http://www.everyculture.com/multi/A-Br/Albanian-Americans.html
2. Countries and their cultures - Albania. (2012). Retrieved from
www.everyculture.com/A-Bo/Albania.html
3. D-Zign, Z. (n.d.). Albanian world. Retrieved from
www.albanianworld.us/community.htm
4. Lamar Soutter Library. (2012, May). Retrieved from
http://libraryguides.umassmed.edu/content.php?pid=94770&sid=110866
7
5. Promoting educators' cultural competence to better serve culturally
diverse students . (2008). Retrieved from
http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/PB13_CulturalCompetence08.pdf