Radford High School students won the 21st annual “We Are Samoa” competition that was held at the Polynesian Cultural Center on May 11. The festival, which was a part of the World Fire-Knife Championship, allowed high school students to participate in the Samoan culture. The Samoan community from all over the island got together to celebrate their Samoan heritage through a dance contest put on by several different high schools, as well as contests for speech making, coconut husking, fire-making, and basket weaving. “Most of them were born and raised in this country and they don’t have that anymor. Most of them won’t be able to visit the islands of Samoa, so far this is the very best I’ve seen and I want to recognize their instructors and the Polynesian Cultural Center because they’ve been inspired,” said Fatai Vaitu’u, one of the judges of the competition. Al Carganilla, principle of Farrington High School, said, “Their academics were kept up to date as they participated, and their energy was definitely up.” First, the audience got to experience the “taualuga,” which is a speech given by a tribe’s chief. The students were not allowed to use every day Samoan speech, but needed to use “chiefly language,” which included proverbs, scriptures, and other cultural diction. After that, the races commenced for coconut husking, fire-making, basket weaving, and finally, the dance competition. The first place winnings of the dance contest was Radford High School, followed closely by the Kapolei and Farrington high schools, who were all given donations to their education funds: $400 were given to the third place winners, Farrington High School; $500 was given to Kapolei High School for second place; and a big trophy with $800 was given to Radford High School for first place. Fatai Vaitu’u Kaio said one of the things he was judging groups on was the traditional movements of the dancers. The dances displayed daily life in Samoa where they farm or go fishing. In addition, they wore traditional uniforms, which needed to include the mat, “siapo” or tapa cloth. This proud display of cultural tradition helped to remind the students of where they came from, said organizers. Vaya Seouna, one of the participating students, said, “I feel fortunate to have grown up in Samoa. It has helped me to hold on to our cultural values.”
Writer: Rebecca Sabalones~Multimedia Journalist
