Eli Tait was a prolific Alaskan Tsimshian carver of model poles and feast dishes based in Metlakatla, Alaska. Born in Old Metlakatla, BC, Tait was one of the original Tsimshian followers of Reverend William Duncan who relocated from British Columbia to Annette Island, Alaska, in 1887. Living with arthritis in his joints, which prevented him from working in the fishing or timber industries, Tait instead relied on his carving abilities to make a living. He was also among the first Indigenous carvers from the Northwest Coast to consistently sign his work, a practice that has helped make him a popular artist among collectors.

This pole, measuring just shy of a foot and half in height, is an especially large and well-carved example of Tait’s “Good Luck” model poles, his signature design. The pole features, from top: a Bald Eagle with a face on its chest, Salmon, Bear with Human Faces in its paws, and a Young Man with face paint who wears a robe. As with some other larger Good Luck poles, Tait carved the faces of the Humans on the paws of the Bear like little masks rather than simply painting them. The “Good Luck” pole design was probably created by Eli Tait, although the story it tells, “Little Eagle” or “The Boy Who Fed the Eagles,” comes from Tsimshian oral history and accompanied the Tsimshian who followed Duncan to Alaska [1]. The pole is mounted on a square green base, which indicates that this was an earlier pole from the 1930s.

1. Credit for the correlation between the “Good Luck” model poles and the Little Prince story goes to Steve Akerman, a collector and researcher who has tirelessly studied Alaskan Tsimshian model pole carvers for decades. http://bluemando.homestead.com/Story.html. Accessed 22 September 2025.

Christopher W. Smith