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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. [1] He left school at 16 before finishing his secondary school education, and was trained in stained glass craftsmanship and lithography at Hornsey School of Art. He practiced his trade, primarily as an art restorer, in Norwich for a decade. [2] In the late 1960s he decided he preferred a different career direction, completed his secondary schooling, and, in 1970, enrolled in a course of anthropology at University College London, studying under Mary Douglas. He graduated with a B.Sc in 1973. [1] During his undergraduate years, he undertook some fieldwork in the Jura. [3] His initial intention was to pursue work in the field of Oceania studies, possibly in Indonesia. [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. [1] He learnt Djambarrpuyŋu at Milingimbi [5] while focusing his research on the nexus between kinship, social organisation and religious rituals. [6] Particularly with regard to ceremonial rites, his first year of intense fieldwork on the island yielded a rich harvest of over 100 hours of recordings of mortuary song cycles. [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. [7] This marked the beginning of many contributions Keen would make in subsequent years to the cause of Aboriginal land rights. [8]
Keen completed his doctoral dissertation, One Ceremony, One Song, in 1978, and obtained his PhD the following year. [9] He took up a teaching appointment at the University of Queensland and, after several years, returned to the Australian National University for a post as senior lecturer in 1987. [7] The following year he edited a volume of essays Being Black(1988) [10] whose quality Nicolas Peterson, writing in 2015, stated was "yet to be surpassed". [7]
He spent the academic year 1992–1993 at Oxford University and, in 2000, was a visiting professor at the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka. [2] Keen retired to Harold's Cross in 2002 [7] but continues to be active in the field. [11] [12]
While one reviewer of his 1994 monograph Knowledge and Secrecy in an Aboriginal Religion, had the impression Keen's approach echoed that of Meyer Fortes, [13] for P. G. Toner, Keen's work creatively took on board elements of the heterodox approach in Australian anthropology associated with the name of Les Hiatt. [14]
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The Yolngu or Yolŋu are an aggregation of Aboriginal Australian people inhabiting north-eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. Yolngu means "person" in the Yolŋu languages. The terms Murngin, Wulamba, Yalnumata, Murrgin and Yulangor were formerly used by some anthropologists for the Yolngu.
John Rudder, PhD, has studied the Australian Aboriginal languages, of Arnhem Land (Gupapuyngu) in the Northern Territory and the state of New South Wales (Wiradjuri), Australia.
Makassar people from the region of Sulawesi in Indonesia began visiting the coast of Northern Australia sometime around the middle of the 18th century, first in the Kimberley region, and some decades later in Arnhem Land. They were men who collected and processed trepang, a marine invertebrate prized for its culinary value generally and for its supposed medicinal properties in Chinese markets. The term Makassan is generally used to apply to all the trepangers who came to Australia.
Yolŋu Matha, meaning the 'Yolŋu tongue', is a linguistic family that includes the languages of the Yolngu, the indigenous people of northeast Arnhem Land in northern Australia. The ŋ in Yolŋu is pronounced as the ng in singing.
Milingimbi Island, also Yurruwi, is the largest island of the Crocodile Islands group off the coast of Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia.
Lester Richard Hiatt, known as Les Hiatt, was a scholar of Australian Aboriginal societies who promoted Australian Aboriginal studies within both the academic world and within the wider public for almost 50 years. He is now regarded as one of Australia's foremost anthropologists.
Baijini are a mythical people mentioned in the Djanggawul song cycle of the Yolngu people, an Aboriginal Australian people of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. Many speculations have arisen that try to link these mythical culture-bearers with historical immigrants from either China directly or Southern Asia.
The Burarra people, also referred to as the Gidjingali, are an Aboriginal Australian people in and around Maningrida, in the heart of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. Opinions have differed as to whether the two names represent different tribal realities, with the Gidjingali treated as the same as, or as a subgroup of the Burarra, or as an independent tribal grouping. For the purposes of this encyclopedia, the two are registered differently, though the ethnographic materials on both may overlap with each other.
Djinang is an Australian Aboriginal language, one of the family of Yolŋu languages which are spoken in the north-east Arnhem Land region of the Northern Territory.
The Nguburinji people, also written Ngoborindi, Oborindi and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people whose traditional lands lie in northwest Queensland.
The Injilarija people were an Aboriginal Australian people who lived south of the Gulf of Carpentaria in Queensland, east of the Waanyi, south of the Nguburinji and west of the Mingginda peoples. They are considered extinct.
Bruce Rigsby was an American-Australian anthropologist specializing in the languages and ethnography of native peoples on both continents. He was professor emeritus at Queensland University, and a member of both the Australian Anthropological Society and the American Anthropological Association.
The Djinang are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Northern Territory.
The Djinba are an Aboriginal Australian group of the Yolngu people of the Northern Territory.
The Yan-nhaŋu, also known as the Nango, are an indigenous Australian people of the Northern Territory. They have strong sociocultural connections with their neighbours, the Burarra, on the Australian mainland.
The Gadjalivia were an indigenous Australian people of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. They are now regarded as extinct.
Tom Djäwa was an Aboriginal Australian artist. Djäwa worked in the mediums of bark painting and carving. Djäwa was one of the most important artists from the island of Milingimbi, and his works are held in museums and private collections around the world.
Howard Morphy is a British anthropologist who has conducted extensive fieldwork in northern Australia, mainly among the Yolngu people. He was founding director of the Research School of Humanities and the Arts at the Australian National University and is currently a distinguished professor of anthropology.
A memorial pole, also known as hollow log coffin, burial pole, lorrkkon, ḻarrakitj, or ḏupun, is a hollow tree trunk decorated with elaborate designs, made by the Yolngu and Bininj peoples of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. Originally used to hold the bones of deceased people or for burial ceremonies, they are now made as works of art. The permanent exhibit at the National Gallery of Australia, Aboriginal Memorial, consists of 200 hollow log coffins, created by 43 artists.
Philip Gudthaykudthay, also known as Pussycat, was an Aboriginal Australian artist. His work is held in many public galleries in Australia and internationally, including the British Museum.
