Agrafena's Children come from the Russian-Aleut village of Ninilchik, Alaska. Many of us were born and/or raised there. Ninilchik is located on the Kenai Peninsula on the eastern shore of Cook Inlet, 100 miles southeast of Anchorage. We descend from the first family, Mr. and Mrs. Grigorii Kvasnikoff and their children, that settled permanently in our village in 1847. Mr. Kvasnikoff (Americanized spelling of original Kvasnikov) was a church missionary from Kaluga, Russia. His wife, Mavra, was from Kodiak Island in Alaska. Her father, Efim Rastorguev, was Russian and her mother was Agrafena, an Alaskan Native from what we of the village called the "Aleut" people, but which, technically, were Alutiiq, a southern, coastal branch of Eskimos. In 1997 we in our village celebrated its sesquicentennial anniversary, 150 years of existence.
We invite you to visit another Ninilchik home page about our village, its beauty, its history, our old families, and attractions for tourists.
What does "Ninilchik" mean?
As best as we can determine, the word "Ninilchik" is originally from the Denaina word "Niqnilchint." This information comes from the late Kenai elder, Peter Kalifornsky. Peter was not certain of the meaning of this Indian name, but thought it meant something like "Lodge By the River." It is likely that Peter's ancestors used to camp and fish along what is now called Ninilchik River. Peter's people were of the Athabaskan Indian group, not of the Alutiiq ("Aleut") people from the Kodiak and southern Kenai Peninsula area, from whom we of the village of Ninilchik receive our Native blood.
To learn more about the culture of our village, visit Babushka's Country.
To learn about the language of our village, visit Babushka's Language page and the Ninilchik Words page.
Agrafena's Children
In 1994 the book Agrafena's Children: the Old Families of Ninilchik, Alaska was published for use among our extended family. It sold out right away. A second edition is now available at the online Ninilchik Bookstore.
Since 1847, from the one Kvasnikoff couple that began our village, we have now become an extended family of nearly 3,000. We have nine main last names of Kvasnikoff, Oskolkoff, Crawford, Steik, Kelly, Jackinsky, Cooper, Resoff, and Leman, plus hundreds of other last names of relatives who have descended from these nine old families. Our family book is found in the Ninilchik and Kenai, Alaska, community libraries, and has been purchased by many of Agrafena's children. (The book was made for private use of our families and not for commercial distribution.)
Visit these other sections of our home page:
Ninilchik fishing
Fishing, both commercial and sport fishing, is the biggest industry of our village. Many families in Ninilchik depend upon commercial salmon fishing for their livelihood.
The commercial fishery is shared with the increasing sports fishing industry. A number of local businesses in Ninilchik provide tour guide services to assist the sport fisherman who wishes to catch a prize king salmon or delicious halibut. Please visit the Ninilchik home page or our other Ninilchik links for a list of some of these services for sports fishermen.
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