At only 17 years old, Moeatalagi Schwenke has snatched the Siva Afi World Fire Knife Championship title in Hawaii last week. 

She is from the villages of Asau, Auala and Matautu, Lefaga and resides in Sydney, Australia, with her parents, Maryjane and Frederick Schwenke. Moeatalagi said she was raised amongst the diversity of many Pacific cultures, customs and histories.

"Since growing up at Matavai, my father was the Siva Afi tutor. I had always watched and admired his Siva Afi classes, especially when I started noticing girls taking part in those male-dominated classes, which included my sister Moemoana. By the time I was nine, I wanted to focus more on training myself to get better, even if it did take time," she said. 

"After seeing my sister compete for her first time in 2018 at the World Champs, I found myself participating in more Siva Afi classes as often as possible and growing more disciplined in Siva Afi alongside a number of other young girls who also wanted to follow in her footsteps. Since then, I started improving and by the time I was 13, I had been performing Siva Afi for shows and festivals with other girls from Matavai.

"I feel so relieved, the practice, the support and the discipline have paid off. I feel that even before the win, I was tapping into a very spiritual and cultural part of myself that felt so special to me. This competition was more than skill to me, it was a chance to showcase the beauty of Samoan culture on a world stage. So I feel very grateful, purposeful and surreal to have even experienced this moment and share the stage with other such strong teine toa."

Her inspiration behind fireknife dancing was Nafanua's story of how she was able to give her people freedom despite the odds. Nafanua was the beginning of her fireknife dancing journey, and she grew up to admire her strength and bravery.

"I’ve also been inspired by modern-day strong women such as my sister Moemoana and Jeralee Galea’i they set the standard for this cultural art form and paved the way for other young female fire knife dancers. Fire dancing to me is a source of bravery, courage and tapping into the essence of what it is to be a Samoan warrior," she said. 

"Fire dancing is not just about skill but the culture and history that it stems from. Siva Afi to me, personifies and brings to life the Samoan cultural values that are of such importance in life as a whole. Service, faith, strength and courage."

For Moeatalagi, she hopes to serve more in the Pacific and the Samoan community in the future. Asking whether to contest for the Miss Samoa title in the coming years, she is leaving it in God's timing.