The Moon was a very handsome man, who during the winter travelled constantly, camping every night in a different place. He had a wife call Wa'la, and many children. (Some say the children were the stars, and afterwards the whole family were transformed, thus making the present moon and stars.) When travelling, the Moon always went ahead, and prepared a house (the halo) for his wife and children to camp in. Wa'la always carried her large birch-bark buckets on her back, and her snow shovel of birch-bark buckets in her hands. She used the shovel for filling her buckets with snow to melt for water, for melted snow was the only water they could get in the winter-time.
One morning Wa'la said to her husband, "Where are you going to pitch our camp to-night? Where will you prepare a camp for your children?" Several times she asked this question, but the Moon never answered. At last he said pettishly, Camp on my face." His wife took him at his word, and, jumping on his face, stuck there, and he could not get her off.
Thus the Moon's handsome face became disfigured, and, when he was afterwards transformed into the present moon, he could not shine very brightly. Wa'la may still be seen on the Moon's face, holding her birch-bark buckets and her snow-shovel.
The world at one time was always dark, and that people had to grope about. To make things better, they thought they should have a sun and a moon. They chose Robin to be the sun, and he went up into the sky. He was sometimes so hot that the people were nearly burned up, and had to submerge themselves in the water during his day's course in the sky. Those who could not reach water died. The people deposed Robin and put in his place a one-eyed man, son of the one-eyed one. Since then it has never been too hot.
When Coyote had finished his work on earth the people chose him to go up into the sky and be the moon. He served as moon for some time; but at last he became unsatisfactory, because he always divulged what he saw on earth, and many people were ashamed, for they did not like their deeds to be known. When Coyote had gone to be the moon the old man or Chief traveled around on earth, inspected Coyote's work, and set right many things that Coyote had left undone. This Old-Man Chief is said to have been altogether helpful to mankind. My informants said he was for the Indians what Christ was for the whites. When he had finished his work he went up into the sky and became the moon in place of Coyote. Some think that he sent Coyote to be the moon after Coyote had finished his work as transformer, but later, seeing that Coyote was not quite satisfactory, he himself took his place. Afterwards a toad jumped on the face of the moon and remained there. Before the moon was very bright -- equal in brightness to the sun.