Kúkwpi7 Gélpcal (Cultural Chief R.A. Joseph) was born in Sk̲wx̲wú7mesh (Squamish), British Columbia and is a citizen of the Lil'wat Nation (Mount Currie). His roots are gathered from Tsal'alh (Seton Lake), home of his mother Xí7tsa7, and Lil'wat, home of his father Saw'.

He is a multi-medium artist, specializing in carving wood and soapstone, acrylic painting, pine needle basketry, and pyrography. He loves being self-sufficient in the outdoors and spending his time fishing and harvesting medicine, tea, berries, pine mushrooms, and other food from the land.