Kakaso'las Ellen Neel was one of the first women known to be a professional Northwest Coast carver. Through exhibitions such as Curve! Women Carvers on the Northwest Coast at the Audain Art Museum (November 23, 2024 – May 5, 2025) and We Come from Great Wealth: Ḵaḵaso’las—Ellen Neel and the Totem Carvers at the Museum of Anthropology at UBC (May 25 – October 13, 2025), Neel’s legacy continues to grow as scholars, collectors, and artists increasingly recognize her contributions to the history of Northwest Coast art and its development into an internationally recognized fine art. In addition to her role in breaking down barriers as a woman carving, Neel was also an innovator in art production and marketing methods and was one of the first Indigenous artists to sell her designs to be printed on everyday objects. [1]

Neel was the granddaughter of Charlie James (1867-1937) and the niece of Mungo Martin (1879-1962), who, together, comprised one of the most celebrated and significant families of artists on the Northwest Coast. Although Neel was best known for her model and monumental totem poles, she also created masks, prints, clothing, accessories, and jewelry. One of Neel’s most iconic innovations was her usage of the Japanese woodworking method known as yakisugi (burnt Japanese cedar), in which the surface of the cedar is charred and brushed to emphasize the wood grain and enhance the texture and contrast of the work. These masks, such as this one being offered, would have been made in the late 1950s or early 1960s and aligned with other regional productions of yakisugi-style artworks and objects by companies such as the tiki lounge manufacturer Witco, in Washington State. It also highlights how attuned Neel was to popular culture and her openness to new methods and art forms. This mask is titled “The First Man” and is very similar to examples in the collections of the MOA and the Burke Museum.

For additional information on Neel’s career, see Scott Watson’s essay “Art/Craft in Early 20th Century” in Eds. Charlotte Townsend-Gault, Jennifer Kramer, and Ḳi-ḳe-in, Native Art of the Northwest Coast: A History of Changing Ideas, (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2013), pp. 348-378.