Lincoln Dam
Aotearoa/New Zealand-born Chinese-Thai-Cambodian
Lincoln was born in Aotearoa-New Zealand to a Thai-Chinese mother and a Chinese-Cambodian-refugee father. He is a Professional Teaching Fellow and Director, English-medium education in Te Puna Wānanga, the School of Māori and Indigenous Education, at Waipapa Taumata Rau, the University of Auckland. His current research explores the ethics and politics of (Im)migrant-Indigenous relations in Aotearoa. More specifically, he is interested in the relationships between Asians in Aotearoa, and tangata whenua and te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Asian relationships with te Tiriti o Waitangi: Titiro whakamuri, kōkiri whakamua
Asian communities have a long association with Aotearoa, with some Indian and Chinese people settling here as early as the 19th Century. Demographic projections suggest that Asians will soon outnumber Māori in Aotearoa and will comprise more than a quarter of the overall population by 2043 (Stats NZ, 2022). Despite this long history and our (Asian) growing number, talk of te Tiriti o Waitangi often centres on Māori and Pākehā relations. In this session, we reflect on our doctoral research - completed 10 years apart - on Asian relationships with te Tiriti. Saburo revisits his 2014 research findings and reflects on what has changed since. Lincoln explores what Asian meditations on relationality and ethics can teach us about be(com)ing tangata Tiriti (people of te Tiriti). This session invites other (Asian) im/migrants to consider how their communities can honour te Tiriti o Waitangi and be(come) tangata Tiriti.
