One is reminded of the Ottoman Turkish (originally Persian) oriental term dushman ‘enemy, foe’, but there does not seem to be any etymological relationship to the word here.

According to the oral traditions of the Dushmani, as recorded by the local vicar David Pepa, two brothers from the Kalia brotherhood left their homeland in Tuzi and settled in northern Albania.

The oral tradition details that a relative or branch of the Kalia intermarried with the Lumbardhi, the union resulting in the birth of a certain Kurt who came to become extremely influential and powerful in the region.

The brotherhoods from Vilë and Qerret trace their ancestry back to the ancestral figure of Doç Kalia, those being the: 1) Gjo-Lekaj; 2) Gjo-Gjeçaj; 3) Ndokaj; 4) Bicaj; 5) Gjo-Mêmaj; 6) Çekaj; 7) Gjo-Gjinaj; 5) Lush-Gjinaj; 6) Gjeçaj.

The brotherhoods from Arrë whom descend from the Kalia but cannot trace their ancestry back to a clear ancestral figure from the clan are the: 1) Matanaj; 2) Gjinaj; 3) Garraj; 4) Ulpepaj; 5) Vatgjonaj; 6) Ulnikaj.

The men of the tribe had the custom of tattooing a tiny cross upon the breast or upper arm, in case that if being found dead in a strange place, they would be certain of Christian burial.

Pagan beliefs were still active and many of the grave-slabs in Dushmani churchyard were rudely scored with mysterious patterns in which the sun and crescent moon almost invariably occurred.