evidence: Swains Island, American Samoa, US Territories Besides the main island of Tutulia, most of the islands in American Samoa are sparsely populated, with less than 3% of the Territory’s population. Swains Island is 220 miles north of Tutulia, and has been claimed by the American settler Eli Jennings and his descendents since 1856, and joined American Samoa in 1925. It is a mile-wide ring of beach and land, surrounding a brackish lagoon, and is generally inhabited by around a dozen people, who sporadically operate a coconut plantation.