 Kaapa was born west of Napperby Station in the 1920s.His father was Kwalapa Tjangala, a senior Aboriginal man who had ritual responsibility for a site known as Warlugulong, which would subsequently be portrayed by several different artists in major paintings such as "Warlugulong" (1976) and "Warlugulong" (1977).Kaapa was initiated on Napperby Station, and was a stockman at nearby Mount Riddock Station.