It lies just east of Bainbridge Island across the Prince of Wales Passage.
Old Chenega had been destroyed and one-third of its residents had been killed by the tsunami from the 1964 Alaska earthquake.
The new community of Chenega is coextensive with Evans Island, which has a land area of 74.605 km2 (28.805 sq mi) and a population of 86 persons as of the 2000 census.
Evans Island and the ocean around it was polluted by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.
The United States Coast and Geodetic Survey renamed the island in honor of United States Navy Admiral Robley Evans (1846–1912), who had been a maritime policeman in the area early in his career.