He spent his youth fishing and hunting and was famous for fighting against the wildly invading Lekwiltok warriors from the Kwakwaka'wakw Territory.

He went to work in the sawmill at Moodyville, a pioneer settlement in what is now the Lower Lonsdale area of the city of North Vancouver.

[1][3] A number of landmarks on Vancouver's North Shore share his name, which in the original Skwxwu7mesh snichim is Giyeplénexw, approximately Kiapilanough, where "Kiap" is the name of a hereditary chieftaincy and "-lanough" means "people of"; his formal title in that language is TE Kiapila'noq.

Capilano Road's intersection with Marine Drive immediately east of the northern ramps of the Lions Gate Bridge.

[8] "Legends of Vancouver", a collection of Coast Salish, particularly Squamish, stories by Pauline Johnson, a Canadian poet of Mohawk origin, was based on Capilano's tales.