Kenai, Alaska

Kenai Peninsula Borough

02-38420

Kenai is an American city in Alaska in the Kenai Peninsula Borough.

Kenai ( Kahtnu Qayah ) was to Kenai Peninsula ( Yaghanen - ' the good land ') named, whose name derives probably from the Russian Kenayskaya or Kenaitze ( ' people of the plains' or ' people of kena '). Both the English dissipation as well as the Russian name derives from the northern Athabaskan word Kenai or Kena ( ' flat, meadow, open area with few trees, level, low hill ') of the resident Dena'ina (also Tanaina - ' the people ' ) from, according to the Dena'ina Topical Dictionary by James Kari of 2007. resident Dena'ina speak the Outer Inlet Dena'ina dialect and called themselves Knaiakhotana ( ' people of the Kenai Peninsula ') or Kahtnut'ana ( ' people along the Kenai River '). Today, it is home to the Kenaitze Indian Tribe. The different groups of Dena'ina lived in large coastal areas in the south of Alaska, mainly in the catchment areas of the Cook Inlet ( Tikahtnu - ' Big Water River ' - ' Wide, lots of water leading river' ) and Clark Lake.

History

Archaeological studies indicate that the place was inhabited around 1000 BC by the Kachemak before this AD to 1000 AD have been displaced by the Dena'ina Athabaskan.

Before the arrival of the Russians here was the Dena'ina settlement Shk'ituk't ( 'where we slide down' ) with approximately 1,000 residents. 1741 came after Russian traders Shk'ituk't and established a trading post there in 1791, Fort St. Nicholas. Thus Kenai is the second permanent Russian settlement in Alaska. The Russian dealer botched the proper name of the Kahtnut'ana in Kenaitze

The hostilities between the natives and Russian settlers came in 1797 open days, than in an incident that later became known as the Battle of Kenai, who attacked Dena'ina Fort St. Nicholas, and in this case more than one hundred deaths in both parties were to be deplored. Later, in 1838, smallpox killed half the Dena'ina population so that they could no longer afford successful resistance to the settlers.

After the sale of Alaska to the United States in 1869, the U.S. Army established a fort at the site of Kenai, which was abandoned rather quickly. After 1888 state prospector named Alexander King was near Kenai Gold settled soon many prospectors and traders in the city.

1957 20 km from Kenai was discovered the first major oil well.