Ellen is known as one of the first famous female Northwest Coast artists. She started training under her grandfather, Charlie James, at an early age and was selling small totem poles to tourists by the age of 12. Ellen quit going to school at the age of 18 in order to work as an artist. In 1943, Ellen moved to Vancouver with her six children. She began training her children to carve, and during the summer months the family had a stand in Stanley Park. In 1948, Ellen was commissioned to create a 16-foot pole for UBC. In 1955, Woodward’s Department Store commissioned a large pole by Ellen, and this pole now stands in Stanley Park’s Brockton Oval.