Ian Keen (born 21 November 1938) is an Australian anthropologist, whose research interests cover Yolngu kinship structures and religion, Aboriginal land rights and economies, and language.
Keen was born in the northern London borough of Finchley in late 1938, and spent his early years under the Blitz during World War II, during which his father, a former grocer, served in the Signal corps.
[4] Just at that time, Derek Freeman had delegated Nicolas Peterson to organize a post-graduate research scholarship for work on Aboriginal religion as evinced in song symbolism among men in northern Australia, particularly in Arnhem Land.
[4] Keen proved successful in his application,[clarification needed] and he began his fieldwork by setting up camp at Milingimbi in September 1974, where he stayed for 14 months, and followed it up with a 10-month stint at Nanggalala on the mainland.
[5] Before returning to Canberra, he spent a month at Oenpelli (present day Gunbalanya) assisting the Northern Land Council in mapping out the aboriginal landscape in order to prepare an indigenous report perspective for the Fox Inquiry on uranium mining in the area.