Bienville was famed for his mastery of the Mobilian trade jargon, a Choctaw pidgin that became the "lingua franca" for commerce among the southeastern Indians, but for centuries prior to the arrival of the French, Dauphin Island had already been a center for indigenous trade for Indians from the interior of North America. The latest DAUPHIN ISLAND HISTORY post includes information and links concerning Mobilian trade jargon along with the prehistoric Dauphin Island commerce in marine shells, especially in lightning whelks (Busycon perversum) which are often misidentified as "conchs". Almost all North American Indians wanted cups made from these hollowed out shells from which to drink their tonic ("black drink"). Cups made from these Northern Gulf Coast shells have been found by archaeologists as far north as Wisconsin and as far west as Oklahoma and many pottery cups made as imitation whelk shells have been unearthed in present-day Illinois. http://dauphinislandhistory.blogspot.com

The use of marine shells by the prehistoric Indians who lived on and visited Dauphin Island is part of a much broader widespread pattern of indigenous trade along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.