Nenana is a Home Rule City in the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area

Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska

Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area is a census area located in the state of Alaska, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 5,588. It is part of the unorganized borough and therefore has no borough seat...

 of the Unorganized Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

. Nenana lies at the juncture of the Nenana River

Nenana River

The Nenana River is a tributary of the Tanana River, approximately 150 mi long, in central Alaska in the United States. It drains an area on the north slope of the Alaska Range on the south edge of the Tanana Valley southwest of Fairbanks....

 and the Tanana River

Tanana River

The Tanana River is a tributary of the Yukon River in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to linguist and anthropologist William Bright, the name is from the Koyukon tene no, tenene, literally "trail river"....

. The population was 402 at the 2000 census. "Nenana" means 'a good place to camp between two rivers.'
Nenana is in the western-most portion of Tanana Athabascan Indian territory. It was first known as Tortella, an interpretation of the Indian word "Toghotthele" (TOG-uh-TEE-lee), which means "mountain that parallels the river." Early explorers such as Allen, Harper and Bates first entered the Tanana Valley

Tanana Valley

The Tanana Valley is a lowland region in central Alaska in the United States, on the north side of the Alaska Range where the Tanana River emerges from the mountains.-Climate:...

 in 1875 and 1885.