Chenega Island is an island in
Prince William Sound
Prince William Sound ( Sugpiaq: ''Suungaaciq'') is a sound of the Gulf of Alaska on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is located on the east side of the Kenai Peninsula. Its largest port is Valdez, at the southern terminus of the T ...
in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
of
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...
. It is the traditional home to the community of
Chenega, though much of its population eventually migrated to
Chenega Bay
Chenega (; Alutiiq: ) is a census-designated place (CDP) on Evans Island in the Chugach Census Area in the U.S. state of Alaska. Located in Prince William Sound, the CDP consists of the Chugach Alutiiq village of Chenega Bay, which was established ...
on nearby
Evans Island
Evans Island is an island in the Prince William Sound of southern Alaska. It lies just east of Bainbridge Island across the Prince of Wales Passage. Elrington Island lies to its south, Latouche Island to its southeast, and Knight Island to its n ...
after the 1964
Good Friday earthquake
The 1964 Alaskan earthquake, also known as the Great Alaskan earthquake and Good Friday earthquake, occurred at 5:36 PM AKST on Good Friday, March 27. and accompanying
tsunami
A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater exp ...
. Chenega Island and its surrounding habitat were also heavily impacted by the 1989
Exxon Valdez oil spill. The island has a land area of 57.084 km
2 (22.04 sq mi) and, after the mass emigration, was unpopulated as of the
2000 census.
Demographics
The original settlement of Chenega on Chenega Island first appeared on the 1880 U.S. Census as an unincorporated village. It did not appear on the 1890 census, but was separately returned in 1900. It did not appear again until 1930 and 1940 when it was erroneously called "Chanega." It was returned again in 1950 and 1960 as Chenega. With the destruction of the village in 1964 and departure of most of its remaining residents, it ceased to appear on the census as a separate village. The present (new) Chenega, a census-designated place (CDP), is located on Evans Island.
References
Chenega Island: Block 1051, Census Tract 3, Valdez-Cordova Census Area, AlaskaUnited States Census Bureau
Islands of Alaska
Islands of Chugach Census Area, Alaska
Islands of Unorganized Borough, Alaska
Uninhabited islands of Alaska
{{ChugachAK-geo-stub