Empire. Later, in the early 20th century, the northern Albanian tribes switched sides against the Ottoman Empire and rose up with Serbian aid in 1910 and Montenegrin aid in 1911. The latter began with a memorandum signed by the Malësian tribal representatives. The Malësian tribes won a victory at Deçiq in April 1911. The Albanian revolt of 1912 led to the Albanian Declaration of Independence later that year. On May 26, 1913, 130 leaders of Gruda, Hoti, Kelmendi, Kastrati and Shkreli sent a petition to Cecil Burney in Shkodër against the incorporation of their territories into Montenegro. Gruda and parts of Hoti came under Montenegrin rule. During World War II, the northern Albanian tribes were collaborationist and anti-Communist. Prek Cali led the Kelmendi tribe. Some leaders were persecuted by the new Communist regime. Demographics The region is inhabited by an Albanian majority, divided between Catholicism and Islam, while a small Serb-Montenegrin community is present in some villages. The Albanian population ethnographically belongs to the Ghegs group. In Montenegro: Albanians - 7,839 (75.8%) Montenegrins - 823 (8.0%) Bosniaks - 627 (6.1%) ethnic Muslims - 635 (6.1%) Serbs - 156 (1.5%) Romani - 62 (0.6%) Others - 120 (1.2%) No Ethnicity Declared - 77 (0.7%) Total - 10,339 Culture Due to its rich culture, the highland region has attracted more attention from anthropologists, artists, writers and scholars than any other Albanian-populated region. It is Malësia that produced what has been considered the national epic of the Albanian people, Lahuta e Malcís (The Highland Lute). Author and Franciscan friar Gjergj Fishta spent 35 years composing this epic poem, in which is chronicled the whole range of the ethnic Albainan cultural experience (e.g. weddings, funerals, historical battles, mythology, genealogy, and tribal law). It is as interesting to modern readers as an anthropological document as it is a magnificent poem. Anton Harapi, Albania's most distinguished Christian philosopher, dedicated his masterpiece "Ândrra e Pretashit" (The Dream of Pretash), initially called "The Wise Men along Cemi River" to the people of Malcía. The oldest Albanian book was written by Malësor Catholic priest Gjon Buzuku. Ethnography In 1908, anthropologist Edith Durham visited the Malësia region and catalogued her findings in her ethnographic work "High Albania," which was, for nearly a century, the most trusted source of information about the Albanian highlanders. Albanian anthropologist Kolë Berisha wrote, among other books, the four-volumes ethnography entitled "Malcía e Madhe" written between