The French Market began as a Houma market (New Orleans/Bulbancha, before 1718 onward)
Record: the document says itPattern: documents line upLens: our readingOpen: not yet proven
Year: 1718 · Places: Louisiana, Europe, Africa
SUMMARYThe French Market began as a Houma market (New Orleans/Bulbancha, before 1718 onward) [Connections: Louisiana (deep), Nov 5, 2026]
RECORDNew Orleans Historical's "The Native Roots of the French Market" says the Oumas (Houma) founded what is now the French Market and sold goods to travelers including Bienville. It says the Tchouchoumas kept a market on Bayou St. John that merged with the Houma space after 1718. It says Chitimacha, Choctaw, Ishak, Tunica and Natchez people traded there, with Choctaw vendors present for two centuries, and that Native market life "still constituted a meaningful form of identity as well as a helpful source of income." It gives the city's Native name, Bulbancha, "the place of many tongues."
PATTERNThe city's oldest market, like Congo Square, sits on Native trade ground. The trade routes existed before the colony
LENS (WW9)Before "New Orleans" there was Bulbancha, and the nations ran the market
OPENThe page has no named author; check its sources (the essay "Bulbancha is Still a Place") and the "1675" start date
SOURCEThe Native Roots of the French Market (New Orleans Historical).