Joseph was a member of a group of Federation colonists who were stranded in the Orellius system for ten years. Their ship developed life support problems and they were forced to crash-land on a nearby planet, where they discovered that none of their electrical devices worked.

Like Miles O'Brien, Joseph had been a mechanic who worked with technology all his life. However, Joseph and the other colonists learned to live without technology and adopted the philosophy of the manipulative Alixus. It was discovered that the field interfering with electric devices was artificially created, but Joseph surprised O'Brien and Sisko when he announced that the colonists had no intention of leaving their home. (DS9: "Paradise")