So many questions, so few answers
Chief Ashley Joseph |
TEDxWhistler
• September 2021
As a Cultural Chief of the Lil’wat Nation in BC, Canada, Gélpcal explores deep, soul-searching questions about his core identity and that of his people. Along the way he reveals the legacy of what was done to his people, and asks us about the legacy we all want to leave behind.
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.