The Author Behind Tale of Twins
Joe Kidd and the Story of Belonging
Writing under a pseudonym, Joe Kidd brings Lakota tradition, American history, and a family’s choices together in an epic about what the land holds—and who belongs to it.
Joe Kidd
Joe Kidd is the pseudonymous author of Tale of Twins, an epic American novel that follows a Lakota family through choices shaped by kinship, land, and an unprecedented discovery beneath rural Kansas. Across the series, Kidd brings the intimate lives of siblings into conversation with American history, Lakota tradition, and the question of Indigenous sovereignty. The name Joe Kidd identifies the author of these books; it is not presented as a claim about the writer’s personal history or background.
A Story Centered on Those Who Belong
Tale of Twins begins with a question of responsibility: what does it mean to belong to land rather than own it? Beneath land marked by a nineteenth-century railroad grant lies an extraordinary geological discovery. Yet the series treats what the earth holds as more than a resource to claim. Its literary vision joins vast historical and geological scale to the lives of a Lakota family, whose relationships and decisions remain at the heart of the story. Engaging with Lakota tradition and the history of dispossession, the saga explores Indigenous sovereignty and imagines what becomes possible when people long pushed to the margins stand at the center of their own story.
A Story of Land, Legacy, and Responsibility
Joe Kidd’s Tale of Twins brings Lakota tradition into conversation with American history and an astonishing geological discovery, asking what it means to care for what the earth holds.
Lakota Perspectives
Family, belonging, and Indigenous sovereignty shape a story in which the people connected to the land stand at its center.
History Beneath the Land
An 1874 railroad land grant and generations of inheritance reveal how the past continues to shape the present.
A Hidden Geological World
Beneath rural Kansas, an ancient impact crater transforms the meaning of a discovery no one expected.
The Burden of Stewardship
Faced with what the land offers, the characters must decide how to receive it—and whom their choices will serve.
The Lives Above, the World Below
Tale of Twins moves between choices made around kitchen tables and discoveries on a continental scale. Siblings navigate loyalties, relationships, and life-defining decisions while a hidden world beneath rural Kansas challenges everything they thought they knew about the land. Its geology is immense: an ancient impact crater and a natural resource find beyond anyone’s expectations. Yet the series also asks spiritual and human questions that cannot be answered by measuring what lies underground. For Joe Kidd’s characters, the discovery is inseparable from memory, Lakota tradition, and the responsibility of belonging to a place rather than simply owning it.
Tale of Twins: Volumes in Order
- Volume One — Book One: Revelation (Wówicakĥe Ečhúŋyapi)
- Volume One — Book Two: Discovery (Wóyaka)
- Volume Two — Book Three: New Beginnings (Piya Wiconi)
- Volume Two — Book Four: Long Journey (Háŋska Oómani)
- Volume Three — Book Five: Amity (Mitákuye Oyáśiŋ)
- Volume Three — Book Six: Sacred Hoop Restored (Càgléška Wakà waštḗ)
- Volume Four — The Star Road Home: A Tale of Twins Midquel
- Volume Five — Guardians of the Cavern: The Sea
- Volume Five — Guardians of the Cavern: The Oil Lake
- Volume Five — Guardians of the Cavern: The Rock
- Volume Five — Guardians of the Cavern: The Wakantankium
- Volume Six — Amity: Sacred Care and The City
- Volume Seven — Tale of Twins: The Hoop and The White Buffalo Calf
What will they do with what they have been given?
A question at the heart of Tale of Twins
Raised by the story, not presented as a quotation from its author.
Begin the Tale of Twins Saga
Enter a story of family, land, Lakota tradition, and choices that echo across generations. Explore the books and find where your reading journey begins.