To outsiders, Louisiana conjures up a myriad of images: lazy bayous and political cockfights; alligator-laden swamps and streets choked with Mardi Gras revelers; Cajun waltzes and voodoo dolls; decaying log "dogtrot" houses and flood-rusted mobile homes. Beneath the stereotypes is a state steeped in a variety of traditions grappling with the attractions of the cultural and economic mainstream. Louisiana's citizens are aware of the complex mixture of tradition and change in a state that is as much Sunbelt-suburban as it is pioneer, frontier, plantation, farmstead, fisherman's camp or New Orleans neighborhood.

The richness of Louisiana folk ...