Talk:Louisiana/Archive 1

Archive 1

Archive 2

old comments

it would be nice if there was a timeline element as well..

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Good job to whoever put the state quarter picture here. I'm wondering why it hasn't been done for other states that already have their quarter? It would be a nice addition. Just thinking . . . MattSal 00:54, Nov 25, 2003 (UTC)

Is French an official language of the State

[1]

Hell no! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.3.5.132 (talk) 03:54, 21 October 2007 (UTC)

I was about to suggest that we remove the French title in the opening paragraph and the infobox. although Cajun French is spoken some in the south, it's not an official language. Louisiana isn't Quebec. :) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.81.181.161 (talk) 16:34, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

In the (current) 1974 constitution of the state, Louisiana declared that French is an official language of the state. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Drew.ward (talk • contribs) 04:08, 15 October 2008 (UTC)

Some people have great difficulty understanding that "Creole" and "Cajun" are two really different things, and that the French Creole and French Cajun dialects are really quite different. The Creole people originated on the Caribbean Islands; but the Cajun people originated on the Atlantic coast of Canada (French settlers) in Arcadia. In a great injustice, the English King had them expelled from Canada, and most of them were sent to southwestern Louisiana: a swamp & disease-ridden and undesirable place. (Just look up malaria and yellow fever.)
So, this business of giving the "state motto" in Creole French is specious in that it ignores the Cajuns. Also, the motto is not given here in English, as it should be.
Nowadays, the Cajun language is the more important of the two, since there are radio stations, and at least one televison station, that broadcast in the Cajun language, at least part of the time.98.67.101.55 (talk) 16:22, 22 March 2009 (UTC)

Length of the river in state

This sounds incorrect:

... the Mississippi River, which traverses the state from north to south for a distance of about 600 miles and ultimately emptying into the Gulf of Mexico...

Maybe this takes into account all the bends in the river, but as for the length it "traverses [in] the state from north to south", that sounds like it should be measured "as the crow flies" I think. DavidH 23:12, July 9, 2005 (UTC)

I agree: the length of the rivers in or along Louisiana ought to be given "as the crow flies". It is also impossible to find a straight-line distance anywhere in Louisiana that is anywhere close to 600 miles (not even from the extreme southeast to the northwest).
Also, the Mississipi River does not "traverse" Louisiana at all, considering that the river flows along one edge of Louisiana for a considerable distance - along the Louisiana-Mississippi border. That conflicts with the definition of the word "traverse", which exludes the boundary. For example, if I draw a line (or a curve) that traverses a circle, it touches the boundary of that circle at only two points. It does not follow the circumference of the circle for any distance at all. If I am talking about straight lines, then the traversal is either a chord or a diameter of the circle.
The point is that one may not just use any word that one pleases, willy-nilly, without knowing what the real & technical meaning of what that word is.98.67.101.55 (talk) 16:22, 22 March 2009 (UTC)

"Louisiane" or "La Louisiane?"

I thought the official French name for the state is "La Louisiane," but I'm not positive though. Funnyhat 03:24, 2 September 2005 (UTC)

In French you can say either Louisiane or La Louisiane, as you can say France ou La France, it depends of where the name is placed in a sentence.98.67.101.55 (talk) 16:22, 22 March 2009 (UTC)

Largest City: N.O. or B.R.?

Regarding edit made on Sept. 2 by 70.80.127.149: Although New Orleans is practically empty now and many of those people are now in Baton Rouge, we must remember that the evacuation causing this population shift is only temporary. Only time will tell how many of these evacuees will actually stay in Baton Rouge, but until the New Orleans area is salvaged and we have a better idea of how many actually return to the city permanently, I think we should leave New Orleans as the largest city for now.

Actually, many New Orleans residents have said they are NOT returning. Remember a lot of them also left for places like Houston, which cuts the New Orleans population even more. I would expect less than half of the 480,000 people from New Orleans to return. Baton Rouge will likely jump to over 320,000... CrazyC83 05:45, 7 September 2005 (UTC)

But, their stated intentions should not be construed as fact. At this point it is just conjecture. Simply because one is in a shelter in Baton Rouge and declares they won't return to New Orleans, does not make them a Baton Rouge resident. They can chose to settle anywhere. For sake of comparison, the Pocono Raceway declares that it is the 3rd largest city in Pennsylvania on race day. An amusing statistic, but not factual.

WP:NOT, Wikipedia is NOT a paper encyclopedia, we can react to changes in situations with the speed of a news organization, and we should. The official word is that currently, almost no one lives in New Orleans, it has been evacuated, and will remain empty for months as the effort to drain, clean, and rebuild the city takes place. That is the absolute bottom line. New Orleans is no longer the largest city, Baton Rouge is. One day that may shift back, but regardless BR is NOW the largest and our article should be dynamic enough to reflect that. Agriculture 16:04, 7 September 2005 (UTC)

P.S., sign your freaking comments. Agriculture 16:04, 7 September 2005 (UTC)

A valid point, but just because a person is not physically in a city does not mean that they do not live there anymore. If I am vacationing in Hawaii that doesn't make me a resident of Hawaii. Although there are many evacuees who probably will not return to live in New Orleans, there are many people who will return as soon as the city is revitalized and are therefore still residents of New Orleans, even though they will likely not "live" there for several months. So officially, New Orleans is the largest city until we get a clearer idea of how many people will move back to New Orleans once it has been revived. Anyway, hopefully my latest edit to the article's sidebar will satisfy both sides. 24.162.95.111 04:51, 8 September 2005 (UTC)

Well done, your edit does indeed capture the best of both worlds. I think a round of applause is in serious order. Agriculture 05:00, 8 September 2005 (UTC)

The figures in this article indicate that as of late December 2005, the best estimates for the still shifting situation puts the population city of New Orleans proper as the third largest in the state, still behind Baton Rouge and Shreveport, but that Greater New Orleans is again the most populous Metro area in the city state, having surpassed Greater Baton Rouge. -- Infrogmation 19:02, 1 January 2006 (UTC)

I said this in another discussion, but I am fairly sure that the population of Jefferson Parish is now greater than that of East Baton Rouge Parish. So technically, JP by itself is the largest city in the state (even though this is sort of absurd since it's greater N.O. more than a city in itself.) Bottom line: take Baton Rouge out of the equation--it's not the biggest city any way you cut it. Wbbigtymer 07:18, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

Huh? Since when is Jefferson Parish a city? It contains several cities. The only parish in Louisiana that is coterminous with a city is Orleans. Baton Rouge is NOT coterminous with EBR parish. --Golbez 08:02, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

Well the point is that you can do a parish-by-parish comparison or you can do a metro area by metro area comparison, and I think both of those make more sense than simply talking about single cities, but in any event, I don't have data on that and I haven't seen anyone else who does either. Wbbigtymer 15:17, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

I agree with Golbez. The category is “biggest city.” Jefferson Parish is a parish and not a city. While it was well on its way in the next census to be the most populous parish in the state before Katrina and probably is currently the most populous parish in the state, it is not a city. I also believe discussions about other cities on List of U.S. states' largest cities have established that the ranking of biggest city goes only to the actual population inside an incorporation’s borders and not the metro area surrounding it. Nolamgm 15:36, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

Having established that, I have yet to see current evidence that Baton Rouge, and not Metairie, Kenner, or even New Orleans aren't the largest in population. I have posted the link to the story that New Orleans has grown 35% in population since December, has passed the 200,000 mark as of Feb., and will easily by at 300,000 by the end of the year, if not sooner. Since Baton Rouge is, at most, around 300,000 in population, and probably more like 250,000 (someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I live in Baton Rouge because I go to LSU and I have seen DRAMATIC drops in traffic and other signs of population swelling that were caused by Katrina) and this is a very fluid and dynamic issue, I think we're approaching the point at which it is no longer uncontestable to call Baton Rouge the state's largest city. Wbbigtymer 00:00, 13 March 2006 (UTC)

Sorry. I must be missing it, but I cannot find your post on the population growth. I do not think New Orleans can be called the biggest city again until the population gets to around 300,000. At last official census Baton Rouge was about 227,000 and Shreveport just under 200,000. The problem I foresee is that it would be inaccurate to label New Orleans the biggest city as soon as the population passes 227,000 because we must also consider any long term spike in Baton Rouge's population as a result of evacuees remaining. After the city elections there should be some solid numbers on New Orleans coming out. Nolamgm 05:30, 14 March 2006 (UTC)

I just finished reading the study done by the RAND Corp. They give a current population of 155,000. By September, 2006 they estimate 198,000. Three years post-Katrina, they estimate that the population will reach 272,000, or about 56% of the pre-Katrina population. The entire study can be found here: [2]. The study is very interesting reading. As pre-Katrina Baton Rouge had a population of around 227,000 and all credible evidence point to it gaining population as a result of the storm, I think it is time to remove any qualification on Baton Rouge being labeled the largest city in the state. Nolamgm 22:14, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

On a related note, I added that the estimate for 2005 was July 1. For the rest of the states, it wouldn't matter much, but considering Katrina and Rita and it's effects on population... 168.166.196.40 22:01, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

Unsourced unverifiable content removed

", a local demographer estimated the June 2007 population at 262,000 people. " Who's the local demographer? Where's the source? I'm also going to roll back to the caption. Jon 15:27, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

Not a territory

That article (http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/09/05/141028.php) was satire. JD 05:15, September 6, 2005 (UTC)

(To Illinoisian and Agriculture: if you truly believe that article to be true, then I have some oceanfront property in Arizona I'd like to sell you.)

Teh intarweb would nevar lie to me!!! Illinoisian 18:27, 6 September 2005 (UTC)

Illinoisian, please stop re-adding this nonsense. older≠wiser 00:04, September 8, 2005 (UTC)

Napoleonic Code and Civil Law Terms

Re this text: "Louisiana is the only state whose legal system is based on Roman, Spanish, and French civil law as opposed to English common law. Technically, it is known as "Civil Law," or the "Civilian System." It is often incorrectly referred to as the "Code Napoleon" or The Napoleonic Code. It is important to note that the Louisiana Civil Code and the French Civil Code, often referred to as the Napoleonic Code, came into existence at roughly the same time. Louisiana was never governed by the Napoleonic Code."

Well, see this article: Yiannopoulos, A.N., The Civil Codes of Louisiana (reprinted from Civil Law System: Louisiana and Comparative law, A Coursebook: Texts, Cases and Materials, 3d Edition; similar to version in preface to Louisiana Civil Code, ed. by Yiannopoulos), which notes: "The redactors of the Louisiana Civil Code of 1808 based codification on a variety of sources. They followed as a model preparatory works of the French Civil Code as well as the finished text of that code. The 1808 Digest contained 2,160 articles. 1,516 of these articles, about seventy per cent of the whole, corresponded with, and were based upon, provisions of the French projet du gouvernement of 1800 or of the Napoleonic Code. Three hundred and twenty-one articles, about fifteen per cent of the whole, were based upon other French statutes or upon French doctrinal works. Most of the remaining articles were based directly on Spanish materials."

Perhaps something should be mentioned here from this or similar sources to make clearer the role of the Napoleonic Code in the Louisina Civil Code. Also in this respect: there is a famous scholarly debate in Louisiana over whether the original La. civil code is "really" Spanish, or French: see, e.g., Pascal, Robert A. and Rodolfo Batiza, Tournament of Scholars: articles debating the actual sources of the Louisiana Civil Code of 1808--Spanish or French Law.

Finally, my own article A Civil Law to Common Law Dictionary is relevant for the discussion on La. civil law terminology.

Your Article is was very useful to me in law school when I was fighting m way through freshman common law classes in my third year. I now question the comment that " While most of the differences are now found in verbiage..." (This comment was added by me under 68.14.116.154 before I made myself a name.) At the time I intended it to fix some drastic problems in the article as to the differences between civil law and common law, but to do it in a gradual way. However on further review I am of the opinion that this statement is incorrect as well. While it is true as with the multiple formulas for determine negligence that the application of civil and common law will often result in the exact same outcome, as with the multiple formulas for determine negligence used in the U.S., this is not always the case. Likewise it is true that Louisiana often goes out of its way to change the verbiage or terminology when adopting a common law aspect into its law. However, the above described statement is of simplification of the relationship between the two great legal systems in the world. Therefore, I am removing it. Nolamgm 14:34, 1 December 2005 (UTC)

I have just added a sentence clarifying the roles of Civil and Common Law in Louisiana, and I added a parenthetical phrase in the article on legal systems to the same effect. It is a common misconception that Louisiana's entire legal system is Civilian. In fact all of criminal law, public/administrative law, and (of course) virtually all of federal law in Louisiana are common-law (and N.B., the noun is capitalized, but the adjective is hyphenated and not capitalized). It is particularly annoying to see people in the rest of the country reflexively add the phrase "except in Louisiana" to any statement about American law, as though, e.g., murder is not a crime in Louisiana, or contracts cannot exist there. - Georg Herlitz, MD, JD.

I think the additions might be going a bit too far. I do not think it is necessary to detail every part of Louisiana law that is based on common law. The prior version gave a concise description of the areas of Louisiana law that are civilian. I also question the statement that “business entities structure, [and] much of civil procedure” is civilian. The statement “criminal law … [is] entirely based” in the common law also negates at the very least the use of civilian terms in Louisiana criminal law. For example: “prescription” instead of “statute of limitations.” The part about law in federal court also needs to be cleaned up. Remember this is writing for the general public and not the legal field. Nolamgm 20:49, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

I think I was the one who started the whole "Louisiana is not based on the Napleonic Code" thing way back when. I wrote it after wrapping up a particulary exhaustive legal history class. I should have clarified more that the original drafters of the various codes all had copies of the Napoleonic Code while they were writing the state's own civil code; and it is certain that they did use a lot of material from it. But the state was never formally governed by the Napoeonic Code, since the Louisiana Purchase happened the year before the Napoleonic Code's enactment. I had hoped to clarify it enough so that people would stop saying, "Oh, y'all got that Napoleonic Code down there..." (which is incorrect.) I meant for the article to mention the actual governing authorities that controlled the state, which were primarily Spanish Civil code, and by extension, Roman civil code, and whatever France was using for the few months leading up to the Louisiana Purchase (I forget now). I have subsequently rewritten it to hopefully clarify it more.--68.105.50.50 19:21, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

Funny. I thought I was the one that did that back in the day. Edit seems to make it a lot clearer. Nolamgm 02:35, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

We can argue about it tomorrow at work. 68.105.50.50 05:00, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Correct French name

I see on January 11, 2006 user Bill Thayer changed "État de Louisiane" to "État de la Louisiane". This is not the first time that some users change the name. I believe these users have good intentions, but they simply ignore the proper rules of French grammar. So once and for all: the correct French long form of the state's name is "État de Louisiane", no "la".

I know there is this tendency among English speaking people to believe that French speakers use the definite article ("le" or "la") all the time, but the reality is much more complex. Despite clichés, French speakers in many instances do not use the definite article. This is especially the case in titles and in official names. So you'll find "France", and not "la France". For most US states, the French names do not use the definite article. For instance, you'll find "État de Californie", "État de New York", "État de Floride", etc., no "la".

I hope this clarifies the matter and please in the future revert users who add the extra "la", as I'm sure this is going to happen several times again. Hardouin 23:56, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

I think definitive source for this should be the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL). This is the non-profit organization created by the Louisiana state legislature that is dedicated to renewing the population of French speakers in Louisiana. Their web site is in both in French and English. This page contains a timeline of important events in the French language in Louisiana. Take a look at 1998. In noting the development of a Cajun French program at Louisiana State University it refers to the school as "L’Université de l`État de Louisiane." Hope this helps. Nolamgm 03:48, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

I just noticed this. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing! Yes, Americans often add le and la thinking to Frenchify things. Unfortunately, in this case, it is indeed "la Louisiane etc. (Before we go any further, as you should have seen on my page, I'm a native speaker of French: my high school was all in French, my mother was French, and worked for over 20 years as a French interpreter.) But the authority in matters of French usage, we can take Grevisse, Le bon usage:

(my edition, 1969, a bit old, but hardly outdated or superseded: §317, p264) L'article s'emploie : [. . .] 1^o Devant les noms propres de continents, de pays, de provinces, de montagnes, de mers, de cours d'eau, etc.: L"Amérique, la France, la Bourgogne, le Périgord, les Vosges, la Méditerranée, la Loire.

And American states are, in this context, regions or provinces. (It is also "l'Aragon", "la Sicile", "le Yorkshire", while we're at it.) I've reverted to standard French usage. Bill

Answered on Bill's talk page. Hardouin 00:22, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

Disagree — and as I point out on Hardouin's talk page, the work I cited is not a grammar, but the standard French work on idiom and usage, and 50 years of speaking French and 20 of making my living as a French interpreter would no more have me say "Etat de Louisiane" than "département de Gironde" — but Wikipedia is an experiment in democracy (read the appalling article Split infinitive) and this will breed endless hostilities. I don't like fights, so we'll forget about it; but democracy doesn't produce the best encyclopedias. Wikipedia would be far better if each article were refereed by people in the particular fields involved, like Nupedia. Bill 00:35, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

Ya'll are forgetting something: This is Louisiana, not Paris, and Acadian French is different in many small and subtle ways. Also, as a example of local usage, the officially-sponsored (but not tax-supported) "fan" group for the State Archives -- historians, genealogists, etc -- is called "Le Comité des Archives de la Louisiane." Note the article. --Michael K. Smith 21:35, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

Official Nickname

The recent revert of the addition of “Bayou State” and “Sportsman’s Paradise” because they were “not official” piqued my curiosity. First I questioned why a nickname had to be “official” in order to be recognized. I know that all three have been on state license plates at one time or the other with “Sportsman’s Paradise” being present as long as I can recall. I then decided to do some actual research, and I ran all three through the Louisiana Annotated Statute Database on Westlaw. Only “Sportsman’s Paradise” appears in the text of any current statute. It appears in reference to the current license plates and to a special hunting and fishing license offered. “Bayou State” and “Pelican State” do not appear in the text of any statutes. Therefore, I believe that if any of the three are official it is “Sportman’s Paradise.” I am sure there is some obscure resolution will prove me wrong. However, until that happens I do not see any reason to keep all three from being listed. Nolamgm 03:03, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

This argument belongs at List of U.S. state nicknames; until you can change that, I'm getting rid of the other two. --Golbez 05:08, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

The list you refer to is based only on the link to Information about U.S. State Nicknames. As far as I can tell, that page is written by and is the sole opinion of one man, Mike Todd. By your actions, you have made Mr. Todd the sole arbiter of what constitutes a nickname of a State. This is not consensus. This is only Mr. Todd’s opinion. Nolamgm 06:06, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

OK then, clearly this is a bigger issue and should be brought up on the Wikiproject's talk page and on the talk page of the state nicknames list (which I see you did not do, even though I suggested it). In the meantime, my cursory search has led me to "Sportsman's Paradise" so I'll pop that in there. --Golbez 07:30, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

This is one of the biggest problems with Wikipedia: edits become more trouble then they need to be. I try to keep my substantive edits to subjects I have a good knowledge of. Mainly I stick to Louisiana issues. I do not want to get into a big issue about the nicknames of all 50 states. Blinutne made an edit adding two nicknames in addition to "Pelican State." You reverted these additions stating affirmatively that only “Pelican State” was official. I did research of current Louisiana statutes and detailed the research above. I then reverted to include all three nicknames. You reverted backed. Now you have deleted all but “Sportman’s Paradise.” I question this on several grounds. First, how did you decide that this is the only official nickname? Second, how do you define “official?” Third, upon what grounds are only official nicknames allowed in a state article? I choice to discuss this issue here because this is the page that is subject to the edits and reverts. This is where the discussion belongs. If you wish to try to form some consensus of what aconstitutes a nickname for Wikipedia purposes, then I suggest to start a discussion on the project you mention. My interests do not extend that far. Again, research and reasoning that is detailed being reverted in favor of an admitted “cursory search” is highly problematic. All three nicknames have been included on Louisiana license plates at one times or another. All three are commonly used to refer to Louisiana. All three should be included in this article. Nolamgm 21:57, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

I see you have not taken my advice of asking people who have done a lot more work on this front at the nicknames and wikiproject page. Why do you continue to argue with me when you could get far better answers if you did what I suggested (twice)? --Golbez 08:27, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

(Starting a new exdent, otherwise we'll be squoze into the right margin!) It's hard to say what's official, and whether that matters. But in the interest of preventing "Nickname" from becoming one of those silly lists that litter Wikipedia articles, Pelican State is clearly the one, with as close to official sanction as possible in the lead-off paragraph of this page brought to us by the Secretary of State of Louisiana. Sportsman's Paradise is on the license plates these days: it's a publicity slogan. I'm adding it though to the list of nicknames at the page Golbez brought up. Bill 15:20, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

I argue here because I find it incredibly disrespectful to have edits that have research and reasoning behind them reverted or changed and then instructed, or as you say suggested, that I need to go to a page other then the one at issue to justify my research and reasoning. I also find it disrespectful for an edit with research and reasoning behind it to be reverted or changed in favor of information with little or no research behind it. I offered clear and detailed research and reasoning as to my edits only to have them changed with no explanation as to the sources for the change other than a “cursory search.”

There is no discussion on any of the pages you referred to about what constitutes a nickname. I have no interest in the nicknames of other states. I have no interest in being involved in a project to determine the official nicknames of other states. I know what should be listed on the Louisiana page and I am interested in protecting the edits of a newbee, Blinutne, from being reverted for no good reason.

Nevertheless, the idea that a nickname has to be “official” is ludicrous. This is a good link to an article in a New Orleans weekly paper describing the nickname situation. [3] In my opinion if we are going to include “Pelican State” because it is on the Secretary of State’s Web site and “Sportsman’s Paradise” for the reasons stated above, then “Bayou State” should be included as the former phrase on the plates. Run an all powerful and knowing google on it. They are all sites about Louisiana or a few state parks named after particular bayous. Nolamgm 18:35, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

And since those license plates were adduced as evidence for how official a nickname might be (I'm sort of with NOLAmgm on that part of it, mind you: who cares?), here's a page of Louisiana license plates I just bumped into while looking for something else; notice the many pelicans.... Bill 00:20, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

That is a really great link. It’s missing the two most recent plates however. For the anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase specialty plates were issued. Now that the bicentennial is over, Louisiana has new colored plates with ….you guessed it … a pelican and “Sportsman’s Paradise” displayed. Nolamgm 03:51, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

History Section needs work!

As of right now it jumps from the middle of the Civil War to Hurricane Katrina! That's about 140 years... Anyone willing to work on this? I admit I have no expertise on this subject. Bobak 23:30, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

Yes, you're right. It certainly does. I've been working on the history of Baton Rouge but had to pause in my labors to make a living. I think I'll try to work up a series of survey paragraphs, just an overview. (Anybody else want to join in, please do!) --Michael K. Smith 21:38, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

No, I don't think Louisiana had any history between the Civil War and Katrina. Article seems to make sense to me.

Given the importance of levees to the state's history, they need to be covered more than they are, both in terms of contributions to economy, and in terms of the trouble man has created in trying to control the Mississippi.--Parkwells 16:17, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

Geology Section needs work

It sounds in part like a 19th c. document. Its only mention of the levees is to say they totally protect the land from "inundation" and flooding is rare. The flood of 1927 was a major national disaster and led to changes in legislation. More recent Mississippi flooding also amounted to extensive economic losses, even before Katrina.--Parkwells 16:17, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

Help needed

What are these dishes??

The image I just added (see right) is being considered for a Featured Picture. One of the things people want to know is, what are the dishes in the pic? Unfortunately, I've not eaten much creole/cajun food so the only one I can identify is jambalaya. Can anyone else help? Thanks. howcheng {chat} 21:04, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

I can see Gumbo, Jambalaya, red beans and rice (unless that is a red sausage dish to the left), two different kinds of etoufee, and crawfish fedicini alfredo. The bottle of tobasco is of course unmistakeable.--Billiot 15:37, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

"Flattest state" with Delaware and Florida

Having poked around a bit, as given by at least one page online — with the ever-present caveat, of course — the statement was accurate, at least if the flatness of a state is measured by the lowness of its high point; and very likely also if it's measured by the more precise criterion: least difference between high and low point.

There are better criteria but they'd be much harder to quantify: percentage of area with zero gradient, for example. The northern area of Louisiana is in fact rather bumpy hills; to a walker like myself, even 200 feet differential, if repeated (i.e., constantly going up and down hill, even if not very big hills), makes an area something other than flat. By those criteria, it's quite possible Kansas or Iowa or some other Plains state is flatter; Florida almost certainly is; and, what I've seen of it on foot, so is Delaware.

Bill 11:20, 14 April 2006 (UTC)

I just find it a rather goofy statement and it was uncited. The article on Kansas states that it "on a large scale is almost perfectly flat." It is also cites and links to the recent study that Kansas is in fact flater than a pancake. I do not beleive that the term "flat" is meant to be used as the anon editor used it here. As you say, Louisiana is rather hilly in the northern part of the state. Nolamgm 21:26, 14 April 2006 (UTC)

NPOV

• See Tennessee article for issues. --Bookofsecrets 15:05, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

• I have updated the lead paragraph to read "Southeastern" and I removed the NPOV tag. --Bookofsecrets 19:57, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

How is the world is Southern POV? Do not not refer me to Tennessee. Please explain and provide cites here as to why this is disputed and as to why Louisiana is not a southern state before you change it again. And please take off all those tags. This is not a disputed topic or POV. Nolamgm 20:20, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

• I'll refer you to any place I so desire. In the 21st Century "Southern" is strictly a cultural term. Southeastern is geographical and thus more appropriate in the lead paragraph. I have put the NPOV tag on this article. I will not remove it unless the administrators take a good look at this situation. In my employment I meet folks from all over the world and throughout these United States of America. I've discussed this issue with a great many. Most cannot understand why certain segments of our society cannot let the American Civil War die as a concept and idea. Looking at it from a historic view point is something they are prepared to do and the other has such strong racial overtones they want so part of it. I am merely trying to follow NPOV standards here at Wikipedia. --Bookofsecrets 23:55, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

You're going to need to do an RfC on this, because there's no way this will stand. In the 21st Century, "Southern" can mean lots of things, even in America, and it is NOT strictly a cultural term. You clearly have a bone to pick on this matter, and stop appealing to "NPOV standards". Speaking of unwilling to let the Civil War die... --Golbez 00:04, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

The kind of thing that gives Wikipedia a bad name. Bees in bonnets, weirdnesses — speaking in code and creating an exotic subculture is hardly what an encyclopedia is about! Louisiana is a Southern state, it's the norm in common speech, regardless of the speaker's or hearer's cultural agenda. Might as well avoid speaking of the "English" language, or using "American" as the adjective for "USA", etc. The fact that people will react to "Southern" each with our own baggage shouldn't force us to remove the word. Anyway, this ought to be fertile breeding ground for a few months of argument. Your time, BS, would be better used improving the article.... Bill 01:54, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

Southern is also much more geographically correct than Southeastern: Most of Louisiana is west of the Mississippi River. Jon 20:43, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

Yes, Southern. I find it stunning that some people do not know that the Eastern United States is east of the Mississippi River, by definition. Also by definition, anything that is southeastern has to also be eastern to begin with, and also southern. Most of Louisiana does lie west of the Mississippi River.
Also, by deep historical reasons, the southeastern states are Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi. Also, by deep historical reasons, the Southern States include these southeastern states, plus Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas, but not New Mexico, Arizona, California, or Hawaii.
Also, in this decade there has been a lot of abuse of the term "Border State". Whether they like it or not, by deep historical reasons, the Border States are specifically these: Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri. Like it or not, that's just the way it IS.98.67.101.55 (talk) 16:43, 22 March 2009 (UTC)

Southern is correct: see the article Southern United States -- Aaron charles 22:48, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

The reference to a state university in Louisiana being a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) is merely an aberration. Historically, and for a long time, this conference has included eight universities that are truly southeastern, located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee, plus two aberrations that are not really southeastern, in Louisiana and Kentucky. Also, a former member of the SEC, the Georgia Institute of Technology, is in the southeastern states, and one new member, in South Carolina, is in the southeast. Historically, this one had to be called "Southeastern" because there already was (and still is) a Southern Conference.98.67.101.55 (talk) 16:53, 22 March 2009 (UTC)

The organization of subject categories

I realize that the Louisiana article basically follows the blueprint set by the U.S. states wikiproject, but does anyone else find that the article would read better with "History" at the beginning? Also, I believe that, instead of a link to another article with a list of Louisiana colleges and universities, the main page could list those schools itself, perhaps including a wikilink to the article which explicitly deals with the topic. Does anyone agree? Blinutne 03:02, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

I do not want to discount your ideas, and agree that in general the Louisiana page still needs work.

History (not at the beginning) - if that's the wiki standard, we should adhere to it. Besides, it reads okay and people can always find the history subhead if they want.

Colleges ans universities (separate) - there are several reasons why it makes sense to keep the list separate: (1) the Louisiana article is already too long and still needs to be trimmed. It's at 38K today and should max out at 32K. I've been moving some stuff out of this article and onto others (e.g., lists) to help bring down the size. (2) lists of items should be maintained in one place, otherwise they are not consistently updated. I can confirm that was the case when I merged some lists out to their respective destinations. (3) all other U.S. states have separate college lists, which also have other related information and explanations. Having said that, I think we could have a small paragraph which introduces the list of colleges that maybe talks about how the Long's built many of the state universities, or how Louisiana has a large number of unversities for a less populated state, etc. Whatever can be attributed. Aaron charles 17:23, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

clarification

The state of Louisiana, United States of America, is not French in the way that Quebec in Canada has been influenced; Louisiana has French things. 00:20, 4 September 2006 (UTC) beadtot

Exactly. Comparisons to Quebec are not analogous. 99.224.137.2 (talk) 12:26, 5 October 2008 (UTC)

Louisana an "ethnic autonomous region"?

Louisiana is listed at Ethnic autonomous regions - according to the talk page an 'ethnic autonomous region' specifically for the "French" ethnic group. That seems to me to be nonsense: comments at the talk page there, please.Paul111 12:31, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Entertainment helps to rebuild Louisiana

Here is an article about how Louisiana is the third most common location (after CA and NY) to have films and TV shows filmed in the state, and the effect of this on the economy of the state, if anyone wants to add anything about it to the article.[4] —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Nehrams2020 (talk • contribs) 20:54, 19 December 2006 (UTC).

I agree; the movie industry initiative has been one of the state's great projects over the last decade, and is making great progress. This topic should get more than its brief mention. Also worth mentioning is the slew of studios and post-production cropping up in Baton Rouge. http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/business/38680172.html Dukeofwulf (talk) 19:54, 20 February 2009 (UTC)

US acquisition of western Louisiana

Maps indicate the western boundary of the Louisiana Purchase running through the western portion of the state.

When, exactly, did the US acquire what is the western 1/4 of Louisiana that is west of the western boudary of the Louisiana Purchase territory? Dogru144 01:26, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

French town

I just want to know if thier are some town in louisiana who are speaken by a majority of french-speaking people. Thanks a lot

A helpful map of parishes (counties) can be found on the Cajun French article. I am not familiar immediately of a source by towns. Aaron charles 03:14, 30 April 2007 (UTC)

Any town or city south of Alexadria and even north of it in Natchitoches will have neighborhoods that are French speaking. So if you know where to go and who to talk to you can find a lot. There are over 200,000 French speakers in the state by a conservative estimate and some say that the real number is over a million. On top of that French has seen a resurgence in Louisiana recently due to fall out from both the anti-France issue over Iraq and now the fear of loosing our language completely after Katrina. Your best luck might be to go down the bayou to Dulac or some other mostly Cajun or Houma populated area that doest deal too much with the Anglophones. --Billiot 15:57, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

Bird (cock) fighting?

I know there are lots of people out there saying cockfighting is legal only in Louisiana. Is this true? and can I have the law that says it is (if there is one, it might be allowed because of there not being a law to ban/restrict?) ---Cbailey 70.245.0.140 06:10, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

A bit out of date now , LA just passed a bill outlawing it, so when it goes into effect there will be no longer be states in which it's legal. (I don't know about LA, but in many states most new laws don't go into effect until July 1 in the year they were passed). This bill was passed after the above editor's statement. Jon 13:36, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

Source for latitude and longitude?

Does anyone know what reference is being used for the latitude and longitude (boundaries) of each state? The state pages don't give a reference. 66.30.237.125 05:26, 7 October 2007 (UTC)

I'll look for some references. 99.224.137.2 (talk) 18:05, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

History

I've added some basic information on population and demographics in the colonial period and before the Civil War to the history sections. Afro-Creole culture is mentioned as important, but there wasn't any data to show who made up the population. Gwendolyn Midlo Hall has done groundbreaking research on origins of African Americans in Louisiana and the US.--Parkwells 17:41, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

What about the ACW? Nothing known there? Exact date of seccession, for example? .--Kennin<

It's in the History of LA section. Don't know why the main section stops at the Purchase, but don't have time to work on it.--Parkwells (talk) 19:12, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

External links 25 Jan 08

I deleted two sublinks of the Louisiana state site, seems pointless to list separately subsites that are reached from the main site in one obvious click. I moved the LEH site back to the bottom of the list. It certainly shouldn't come before the official site of the State, that's for sure. Bill (talk) 22:14, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Name

Louisiana, during French rule, was called La Louisiane, when the Spanish took over, they called it Luisiana, The residents were strong French loyalists and didn't want to give up the name, but over time they accepted Louisiana, a combination of both.Mattkenn3 (talk) 02:21, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

Correct me if I'm wrong and you know it.Mattkenn3 (talk) 02:24, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

I guess Louisiana is just the English name, just like Spain is the English name for España. Louisiana is still called la Louisiane in French and Luisiana in Spanish. No combination with other words. Aaker (talk) 15:07, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

If possible could you give a phonetic spelling of la Louisiane and Luisiana? I normally always hear Louisiana pronounced "Loo-wee-zee-an-uh". I pronounce it "Loo-zee-an-uh", but according to the dictionary it's properly "Loo-ee-zee-an-uh". Mythical (talk) 15:45, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

Maybe we can add that to the article. 99.224.137.2 (talk) 22:40, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

This actually annoyed me. The proper pronunciation is the first one with two 'i's "Loo-ee-zee-ann-a" the Looziana or Loozianer pronunciation is normally what people from Texas say. You here this pronunciation among heavily accented and mostly poorly educated speakers in the Northwest corner of the state but it is not the official pronunciation nor is it an accepted pronunciation. It is not taught in schools and is considered substandard speech. I would think this second pronunciation should be removed and only the native pronunciation used. Having two of these is like giving credence to pronunciations like Tennersee, Te-uh-xus, and 'Merica. Drew.ward (talk) 04:17, 15 October 2008 (UTC)

"Land of Louis"?

In this article under the Namesake heading it states that La Louisiane means "Land of Louis." How so? Obviously the state was named in honor of Louis XIV, and I have seen this translation mentioned elsewhere, but always without an explanation. While my command of French is admittedly very, very limited at the moment, I don't see how La Louisiane could be French for "Land of Louis." Unless I'm wrong on that point, it seems like it would be a good idea either to mention the language in question (that is, that one in which La Louisiane means "Land of Louis") or to omit the translation, replacing it with something along the lines of "in honor of Louis XIV," until it is ascertained and its language determined. In fact, even if it is French, it might be best to specifically mention that for the sake of clarity. Reki (talk) 07:39, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

what does baton rouge mean in engash —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.119.196.193 (talk) 21:59, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Red stick.--Parkwells (talk) 19:11, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

I was about to say the same thing. 99.224.137.2 (talk) 12:27, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

État de Louisiane

Although, as User:Nunh-huh correctly said, neither English nor French are official languages in Louisiana, it is a fact that both languages are used by the state administration. Of course English is overwhelmingly more used than French, due to the dwindling French speaking community, but French is still used nonetheless, and in French the official name of the state is "État de Louisiane". Here, for example, is an official .gov website that uses the French name "État de Louisiane": [5]. Here is a privacy statement from the Louisiana Treasury in which the name "État de Louisiane" clearly appears: [6]. What's interesting here is that the privacy statement is not written in standard French but in Louisiana French (they wrote "cliquez icitte" (click here), which is Louisiana French, instead of "cliquez ici" which is standard French). The name of the state, however, is the same in both standard and Louisiana French. And here is an official form from the Louisiana Treasury written in French and containing the name "État de Louisiane": [7]. Therefore, the French and English names are both perfectly legitimate at the top of the infobox. Hardouin 17:43, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Just because a state issues documents in a given language doesn't mean we should include the name of the state in that language as a title in the English Wikipedia! The State of New York issues documents in which it calls itself "Estado de Nueva York". It doesn't mean that "Estado de Nueva York" belongs at the top of New York's infobox: it just means that the government is making an effort to communicate with its citizens who don't speak English. - Nunh-huh 21:29, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Thats 4 reverts by User:Nunh-huh. Isn't there some rule about that? Nolamgm 01:13, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

Check out 3RR. You're not supposed to make 4 reverts in any 24 hour period. - Nunh-huh 01:53, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

Your right. Reverting the same issue 5 different times on 5 different users by one user is ok. My bad. Nolamgm 02:29, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

Feel free to make a formal request for comments on the issue of whether the name of Louisiana in French should appear in the infobox. Or feel free to make a persuasive argument here. "Appears on some signs" doesn't quite do it. - Nunh-huh 02:43, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

According to official language, an “official language is a language that is given a privileged legal status in a state, or other legally-defined territory.” Under Louisiana law, a contract is only legally binding if executed in either English or French. La. R.S. 1:51 (2006). A contract executed in any other language will not be enforced by a court in Louisiana. This is certainly a “privileged legal status.” Furthermore, French is required to be taught is all public schools in the state. La. R.S. 17:272 (2006). Legal notices may also be printed in French. La. R.S. 43:204 (2006). While a weak argument may be made that this would make French only a minority language and not an official language, the following should also be pointed out. All welcome signs on the interstate in Louisiana are in English and French. [8] Kathleen Blanco, the current governor took the oath of office in both French and English. As did Edwin Edwards. From our own definition, French, as well as English, must be considered an official language in Louisiana. Nolamgm 03:25, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

You've misunderstood - or are intentionally misconstruing - what that article says. - Nunh-huh 03:47, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

I quoted directly from our own article on official language. How is this "intentionally misconstruing?" Nolamgm 03:52, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

It may not be intentional misconstruing; it may be misunderstanding. As I said. Ut could also be that our article needs to be changed if it is misleading people to believe that a recognized minority language is "official". I suspect you are misundertanding the meaning of "privileged" in the first sentence. - Nunh-huh 03:55, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

According to Wiktionary a privilege is "a peculiar benefit, advantage, or favor; a right or immunity not enjoyed by others or by all; special enjoyment of a good, or exemption from an evil or burden; a prerogative; advantage; franchise." [9] French and English clearly have an advantage over other languages in Louisiana. They are Louisiana's offical languages. Nolamgm 04:09, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

As I thought, your issue is the definition of privilege. An official language is one that has been so designated by the involved entity, rather than one for which one can construct a convoluted argument of "privilege" by carefully selecting your preferred definition. I'll be happy to clarify that in our article. - Nunh-huh 04:13, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

Here's Google's definition (note how it quotes back a former, and superior, version of the article in question!)

Definitions of official language on the Web:

Language recognized by statute within a given country. Canada's two official languages are English and French. http://www.canadianheritage.gc.ca/progs/lo-ol/pubs/census2001/9_e.cfm

An official language is something that is given a unique status in the countries, states, and other territories. It is typically the language used in a nation's legislative bodies, though the law in many nations requires that government documents be produced in other languages as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Official_language

- Nunh-huh 04:21, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

Absolutely unbelievable. Now that you have changed "official language" to reflect your definition I guess Louisiana does not have one. The only thing that “turns out to have confused someone” was that a “persuasive argument” might actually work on here. Nolamgm 04:57, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

You are again mistaken. Louisiana never had an official language. Our "official language" article simply makes that clear now. - Nunh-huh 05:54, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

I will concede that Louisiana has never designated either French or English as "official" as it has an official dog, cat, and just about everything else. However much like English at the federal level, English and French are the de facto official languages of Louisiana. For all the reasons listed above, Louisiana clearly has de facto, it not de jure, offical languages. If this is not true then English must be removed from the United States' info box as well. Nolamgm 13:28, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

Don't be silly. This is the English encyclopedia. That's why we give names of things in English. It has nothing to do with "official" languages. - Nunh-huh 14:40, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

I think the issue is getting muddied over the "official language." I didn't check all 50 states, but, if memory serves me, the only states that do not observe the "State of (everyday name)" are the commonwealths of Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia and the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. These designations are written into law. There needs to be some kind of official designation, other than purely decorative instances or just a mere translation (Estado de Nueva York as mentioned above as a prime example). —Twigboy 15:16, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

When Louisiana was incorporated as a state in 1812, French was the only language used in the state: the governor spoke French, judges spoke French, all state and city officials spoke only French. The civil law of Louisiana is still written in French (it was never translated into English), and every lawyer in Louisiana has to know French if he or she wants to use the law books. So if anything, Louisiana is a constituently French speaking state where English has been "tolerated" for some time now. Lol. More seriously, on Wikipedia de facto official languages are always included on top of infoboxes. In Italy, for instance, Italian is not de jure the official language of the country. Nowhere in the Italian constitution does it say that Italian is the official language of the country. Italian is only de facto the official language of the coutry, same as English and French are de facto the official languages of Louisiana. Yet the name "Repubblica Italiana" appears on top of Italy's infobox, so likewise it makes sense to have the English and French names on top of the Louisiana infobox. Hardouin 22:03, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

I know this is late to the party but it is interesting news that is relevant and shows that Louisiana is definatly not giving up on French or the other way around.

Governor Blanco, French Minister of Education sign bilateral accord advancing French education

BATON ROUGE -Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco and French Minister of Education Monsieur Gilles de Robien today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) encouraging educational and professional development between Louisiana and the French Academy of Rennes.

"The people of France and Louisiana share many historic and cultural bonds," Gov. Blanco said. "France remains our greatest supporter in advancing French education across our state. This lasting partnership will build new networking opportunities for high school and post-secondary students and implement meaningful historical and cultural projects."

The agreement will occur through technical networking and cooperation between Louisiana and French students in common projects. Louisiana's Community and Technical College System (LCTCS) will link with French universities and technical schools encourage the establishment of professional exchanges between Louisiana and the Brittany region.

The MOU highlights generations of partnerships between Louisianans and the French. Citizens of France and their government are credited with providing more than $1 million to Louisiana schools in addition to numerous contributions to the arts, music and universities in the state. The French made sizeable contributions to Louisiana's recovery efforts following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE); President, Linda Johnson; Deputy Superintendent of Education, Carole Wallin; and LCTCS Board of Supervisors Brett Mellington joined Gov. Blanco in representing Louisiana during a signing ceremony in the Governor's Mansion. French signatories included Monsieur de Robien, Minister Francois Rivasseau, and Rector of the Academy of Rennes, Jean-Baptiste Carpentier.--Billiot 15:22, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

RfC

This looks like a cogent argument for including "État de Louisiane." Let them in: what harm could they do? Durova 23:56, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Place the English term first due to the English language's privileged position within the United States of America (the dominant government), but give the French name a position as well, due to its secondary but still privileged position within Louisiana (as well as recognizing its unique history). Captainktainer * Talk 05:15, 29 August 2006 (UTC)Nunh-huh French may not be official but English is netheir. French and English are defacto languages, it's just that simple. And just because only a small portion of the population mostly in south Louisiana speak French doesn't take away from the fact French is defacto. As others have mentioned French is on signs, government documents, laws, even the Lousisiana government supports the French language in schools and through French based organizations.

It's true French is a small minority language. French is almost enirely abbsent in North Louisiana, and even in cities like New Orleans. But there are still entire communities, neighborhoods that speak French. And you may not know it at first if your an outsider. They will speak to you in English, but if you started speaking French to them. You would be surprized with how many can answer you back in French.

Cajun French and Creole is dieing out. I think we still have another 15 years before we can reverse this trend. I think in 15 years time with the help of French emersion schools, French will again start growing. But it all depends on how fast the Louisiana government and people act. Many more schools need to be tought in French. Right now 22 schools through out South Louisiana teach only in French. We need to do more to reverse this trend we need at least have 40% of our schools teaching in French in South Louisiana. That means we need to hire more native French speakers and bring them to our schools to become full time teachers. I think next census we will see a leveling off of the delcine in French Louisisana speakers.

Nunh-huh French may not be official but English is netheir. French and English are defacto languages, it's just that simple. And just because only a small portion of the population mostly in south Louisiana speak French doesn't take away from the fact French is defacto. As others have mentioned French is on signs, government documents, laws, even the Lousisiana government supports the French language in schools and through French based organizations.

It's true French is a small minority language. French is almost enirely abbsent in North Louisiana, and even in cities like New Orleans. But there are still entire communities, neighborhoods that speak French. And you may not know it at first if your an outsider. They will speak to you in English, but if you started speaking French to them. You would be surprized with how many can answer you back in French.

Cajun French and Creole is dieing out. I think we still have another 15 years before we can reverse this trend. I think in 15 years time with the help of French emersion schools, French will again start growing. But it all depends on how fast the Louisiana government and people act. Many more schools need to be tought in French. Right now 22 schools through out South Louisiana teach only in French. We need to do more to reverse this trend we need at least have 40% of our schools teaching in French in South Louisiana. That means we need to hire more native French speakers and bring them to our schools to become full time teachers. I think next census we will see a leveling off of the delcine in French Louisisana speakers. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Brenthere (talk • contribs) 14:20, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

Orleans Parish Sheriff

http://www.legis.state.la.us/billdata/byinst.asp?sessionid=06rs&billtype=SB&billno=645

My grammar sucks, but I wanted to at least put the information in there. Orleans Parish sheriff's departments will be consolidated in 2010. Senator Mount's bill also makes other changes (that I didn't talk about).

—Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.252.105.238 (talk) 15:48, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

Protected

I have fully protected the article for 3 days due to the edit war about Haitian immigration. There is nothing at all about this here on the Talk page! Please use this time to make arguments one way or the other on Talk. As a non-expert, I see no reason to exclude the material if the Haitian influx was large enough to meet the WP:UNDUE test. But it seems possible that the new material was literally copied from an external site, and I hope you guys will discuss that. We must not violate copyright by taking large blocks of text from elsewhere. This could be fixed by rewriting, if there is a consensus of the editors here that the material belongs in the article. After protection expires, if reverts of the article continue without any discussion there may be sanctions for the people who don't comment here. EdJohnston (talk) 16:18, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

The Haitian immigration was certainly important to Louisiana and especially to New Orleans (some may be covered in the city article), as it caused the re-Africanization of New Orleans and southern Louisiana, plus adding markedly to its French-speaking and Creole population. What the material here leaves out is the second significant immigration of Haitian refugees in 1809, after refugees who had first gone to Cuba were forced out because of tensions between Spain and France. I haven't yet looked at the source article noted here, but there are other sources as well. No, we should not be copying material.--Parkwells (talk) 23:12, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

The vandalism to this article seems, to me, to be excessive. Basically every change is vandalism and interceding rollbacks. Perhaps semi-protection could be (re)instituted? Qqqqqq (talk) 17:17, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

Southern White Background?

It says that the whites of "Southern U.S. background" are common in the northern part of the state, but aren't all whites who have been in Louisiana for multiple generations of Southern "background"? It is true that the There is a difference between most Southern whites and those of Southern Louisiana, but there are many similarities and cultural reflections of each other. I think the only accurate way to put it would be whites predominantly of Protestant ancestory are common in the Northern part, though Northern Louisiana still has a pretty large black population for the most part. Gtbob12 (talk) 22:20, 27 April 2009 (UTC)

I actually think that the original characterization is correct. New Orleans' port city status drew in whites of backgrounds not typical of other areas in the South, and any discussion of Louisiana heritage has to include the Cajun influence, which is definitely atypical of what one would find in the northern parts of the state, and the rest of the American South. --Florida Is Hell (talk) 22:37, 26 July 2009 (UTC)

I can see where this would have been misleading. The section should have included information regarding American efforts to attract Anglo-Americans from the Appalachian region to settle in Louisiana to counter the French and Spanish cultures by giving them incentives and free land. The land that was available was primarily above Alexandria & Natchitoches resulting in the very northern portions of the state having a culture very similar to most Southern states.

Otherwise, Louisiana is more southern only by geography having very little in common with the South in general culturally. Drew.ward (talk) 00:54, 28 September 2009 (UTC)

I don't have the info I need.

I am doing a report on Louisiana. It's very hard to find what I need. Also, I think this site needs an advanced search, so people can find things easier. --Irock67 (talk) 02:22, 30 April 2009 (UTC)

What sort of info are you looking for that's not in the article or hard to find? -- Infrogmation (talk) 02:46, 30 April 2009 (UTC)

I can't find the previous capitals of Louisiana. --Irock67 (talk) 01:05, 8 May 2009 (UTC)

See List of capitals in the United States#Former state capitals and scroll down to Louisiana. Could probably be added to this article, though. Qqqqqq (talk) 05:16, 8 May 2009 (UTC)

Religion section contradicts itself

have a read of it and see 211.30.172.85 (talk) 13:38, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

No citation to Maltese tombstones

In some cemeteries, many tombstones representing persons of the ethnic "Italian" community would read "born in Malta, Italy".[citation needed] Malta is not, however, part of Italy, although its islands were located closest to Sicily. In the early 20th century, because of its strategic importance in the Mediterranean, it was under colonial rule by Great Britain.

There is no citation to that quote in regards to the tombstones. It wouldn't be necessary to describe Malta's relationship to Italy than. TomNyj0127 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 06:16, 14 September 2009 (UTC).

I think that you are all stupid.

Cajun and Creole population

I've taken out the line "attempts to regain supremacy made them divide society simply into black and white", as it doesn't seem to make sense. Who is the "they" referred to? On first reading I thought it meant Americans, but in that case "regain" doesn't make sense. It could also refer to Creoles, but dividing society simply into black and white would seem to mean destroying their own identity, which would not help them regain supremacy (and again, why regain?).Hobson (talk) 22:41, 17 August 2010 (UTC)

Secession and Civil War?

This article bipasses Louisiana's secesssion from the Union and offers only a cursory mention of the Civil War. That gap is confusing considering the fact that Louisiana was a slave state, an important part of the Deep South and the plantation system, and had one of the only major ports of the Confederacy. These lacunae need to be addressed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.223.4.129 (talk) 18:15, 28 November 2010 (UTC)

All of the historical subjects here on this page are cursory not just the Civil War stuff, they are covered more throughly in their main articles here History of Louisiana and Louisiana in the American Civil War. Heiro 19:10, 28 November 2010 (UTC)

• I am working on material to expand the article with information on the Civil War that includes secession, correcting misinformation, coverage with pictures (I hope) of battles in central and north central Louisiana, and also with slave information. Otr500 (talk) 04:36, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

Then add short synopsis here, and do the main body of work at the pages linked above, as that is where such work belongs. Heiro 05:33, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

That's right, there has to be some information and links from this page to include the Battle of Mansfield and the Battle of Pleasant Hill, as well as others. I placed a multiple issues tag on the article "Louisiana in the American Civil War" which is in bad shape and probably could have used more tags. The article "History of Louisiana" needs work and corrections also. Otr500 (talk) 20:52, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

Sounds like a plan, sorry I cant help, not my area of historical knowledge for the state. I previously expanded the Prehistoric section(creating many of the pages for various Precolumbian cultures in the process), which was almost nil beforehand. Heiro 20:56, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

Tourism?

I understand that there is an external link for Louisiana tourism,and the topic is also mentioned under the economy section of the article. I think it would be appropriate to elaborate on the impact of tourism on the state. For instance, the first mention of tourism is in the economy section, and it says: "Tourism is an important element in the economy, especially in the New Orleans area." It goes on later to explain that tourism pulls in $5.2 billion per year. But if I knew nothing about Louisiana that would not be a particularly informative explanation. I mean, why does tourism pull in so much money every year? Why is New Orleans one of the most important spots for tourism? It seems to me that these are very obvious questions that one might ask if they are unfamiliar with Louisiana. If I were the Lieutenant Governor, this would be the first place I would start to improve the appeal of the state to outsiders. --John rb11 (talk) 14:28, 15 February 2011 (UTC)

Louisiana Economy/Tourism

I'm doing a project that involves information on Louisiana tourism, and I'm disappointed in the lack of information on this subject. It mentions in the "Economy" section of this article that tourism is a major factor in Louisiana economics, but there isn't anywhere in the article that expands on this subject. The "Tourism" section comes at the end of the article after all of the reference sites, and it only provides links to Louisiana tourism websites. The Louisiana Tourism wikipedia article only includes sites about Louisiana hotels and airports. Since Louisiana's tourism industry is said in the article to be important to the state as a whole, shouldn't there be more information about it somewhere? After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in April of 2010, tourism became a huge concern for Gulf states, to the point that it made national headlines. In Louisiana, it has been the subject of much public policy discussion. The Lieutent Governor's office, which holds elections this November, is in the process of making great changes to the advertising of Louisiana tourism. In the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill wikipedia aritcle, the tourism section doesn't include anything about it's specific effects on Louisiana tourism. Since this has become a subject of real concern to both people in Louisiana and those planning to visit Louisiana, shouldn't there be some place in the article that describes the history and current state of Louisiana's tourism industry? I think readers would really appreciate having an unbiased place to find information on this subject. Ashcarv (talk) 14:35, 15 February 2011 (UTC)

You are absolutely right. Two relatively recent major hurricanes, with severe effects still visible six years later, along with a population decrease in one major tourism area, a major oil spill, and a national economic downturn has effected Louisiana tourism. Of all the people effected by these events it would appear that anyone in the tourism industry would have certainly been at the top. The article, Mardi Gras in the United States states, "New Orleans Mardi Gras celebrations draw hundreds of thousands of tourists to the city to mingle with the locals at the famed parties and parades. As many as a half-million spectators have been estimated by officials to line the route of major parades.". The main article New Orleans Mardi Gras does not even have a section on tourism but states, "...reflects the positive economic impact of tourists at each year's celebration of Mardi Gras." .

I do not like the article layout at all. The lack of very important things like the plantations that are great tourist attraction, other things worthy of inclusion such as the Cajun and Creole influence on tourism, and even the casino attractions need attention. The long external links section is of particular concern.

Other things of importance concerning tourism would be the Confederate Memorial Hall that contains the second-largest collection of Confederate memorabilia in the world, the site of the Battle of New Orleans, and the National World War II Museum with special dedication to the invasion of Normandy. The landing boats used in WWII and Normandy (shown extensively in movies), known as "LCVP" or "Higgins Boats" were designed by a Louisiana native and built New Orleans. Two early submarines built in Louisiana, the Pioneer (submarine) (sold for scrape) and the Bayou St. John Confederate Submarine, now located at Louisiana State Museum resulted in the building of the H.L. Hunley (submarine), the first combat submarine to sink an enemy warship. These submarines, all financed in part or in whole by Horace Lawson Hunley, changed naval warfare. Toledo Bend is the largest man made lake in the south, hosts many renown national fishing tournaments, and is a vital tourist attraction.

I have been gathering some information concerning Louisiana tourism but have been working long hours and involved in another Wikipedia problem so I have not had the time to put anything together. Otr500 (talk) 08:35, 12 April 2011 (UTC)

Incorrect statement in Civil Law section

The section on Louisiana Civil Law includes the statement: "In contrast, common law, which really does not exist in its pure historical form due to the advent of statutory law, was created by a judge applying other judges' decisions to a new fact pattern brought before him in a case. The result is that historically English judges were not constrained by legislative authority." This is simply incorrect.

The essence of the common law is not that it is judge-made or that it is not constrained by legislation. The essence of the common law is that it is a body of traditional law -- in origin, an oral tradition -- which is to be found in uncodified judicial decisions, and which controls in the absence of legislation on the subject. Thus, the way to become expert in common law was to attend sessions of court and hear the judges' decisions, while the way to become expert in civil law was to study the civil code in a university. The reason why common law was used in England while Continental Europe used versions of the Roman Civil Code is that, within the first century or so after the Norman Conquest, the Normans developed a new legal system to consolidate their control over England, and this legal system embodied the common law -- some of which was the preexisting law of Anglo-Saxon England, but in combination with innovations that modernized the legal system for the purpose of facilitating commerce, which was increasingly an important part of European life. At the time the Normans were completing the foundations of the modern common law legal system, European universities were rediscovering the Roman Civil Code, and European rulers were finding that the well-developed Roman commercial law offered solutions to problems that were emerging as European commerce was becoming more sophisticated. So they ended up adopting the Roman Civil Code. The English did not, because they had found another solution. -- Bob (Bob99 (talk) 13:55, 28 April 2011 (UTC))

History

There's NO information on history since Louisiana Purchase!? This must be changed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 138.234.219.54 (talk) 04:10, 8 May 2011 (UTC)

Geography

The lowest point = -7 ft (-2.1336 m) While converting ft to m, it is not necessary to use 4 decimal places. Since -7 ft is already a rounded-up number the conversion should be "-2 m" as one significant number can be converted to another significant number. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Fortusxxx (talk • contribs) 10:30, 4 June 2011 (UTC)

Rationale for French name in Infobox

As there doesn't appear to be a statewide official status for French, do we really need the french translation in the infobox? Yes, I understand that there is a strong French heritage there, but then again, this is the English Wikipedia. Other states have large numbers residents with native or spoken-at-home languages other than English, but that in itself doesn't seem like a good reason to provided translations, as that isn't Wikipedia's mission. OhNoitsJamie ^Talk 13:39, 17 November 2011 (UTC)

It is more than a language commonly spoken by immigrants it is a de facto language practically all but official. The state website is in French and there are government efforts to promote further use of it. The censoring of a french bilingual introduction seems frivolous. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mattk0516 (talk • contribs) 22:29, 2 February 2012 (UTC)

not sure if this is the right place for this but...

the first sentence in the "geology" section contains the word "shit", I tried to remove it but it seems to be hidden in the code or something.50.53.10.39 (talk) 06:06, 16 February 2012 (UTC) JPM 2/15/2012

Another ediTOR fixed it, thanks. Heiro 06:20, 16 February 2012 (UTC)

Governor Jindal's Real Name

I've tried several times to correct Governor Jindal's name to Piyush "Bobby" Jindal; however, another editor changes the name back to Bobby Jindal. It is a well-known fact that the governor's name is Piyush and his nickname is "Bobby." The Wikipedia article on Governor Jindal is entitled Piyush "Bobby" Jindal. Correcting his name on the Louisiana article to Piyush "Bobby" Jindal is not inconsistent with the information on the governor. In terms of citations, please follow this link: http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/05/gov_bobby_jindal_releases_his.html

It verifies that the governor's name is indeed Piyush. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.75.118.177 (talk) 15:07, 12 April 2012 (UTC)

But per WP:COMMONNAME the article here is Bobby Jindal. There is no point in putting the redirect page link instead of the actual page link. Heiro 15:10, 12 April 2012 (UTC)

It's either six or half a dozen. What do you care if his name appears as Bobby Jindal or as Piyush "Bobby" Jindal? My concern is that one is accurate, the other is not. Do you even live in Louisiana? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.75.118.177 (talk) 15:18, 12 April 2012 (UTC)

Read the policy on common name I linked above. Or just go here WP:COMMONNAME. Heiro 15:21, 12 April 2012 (UTC)

I'm aware of WP:COMMONNAME. The guideline does not mention that it requires editors to use common names in lieu of formal names. If Wikipedia requires the use of common names, then the language inthe COMMONNMAME guideline should use different language, like: requires, requirement, obligated to, etc. The way the article is written now simply suggests that using common names as opposed to formal names is a preference (-not a requirement.) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.75.118.177 (talk) 15:27, 12 April 2012 (UTC)

No, Commonname is not a suggestion or preference. Commonname is a part of Wikipedia:Article titles, a policy, which should be followed unless there is a good reason not to. There is no good reason to use a redirect title on this article instead of the actual article link, or at least not one you've provided. And would you please sign your posts with ~~~~ so I stop edit conflict with signbot as it does it for you?Heiro 15:32, 12 April 2012 (UTC)

Heiro, I'm attempting to make a slight change, one that is accurate. I do not think that you have the right to bully and intimidate editors simply because you think that you can. I am not changing any of the factual content on Governor Jindal. I am simply attempting to add his full name to the article on Louisiana. I think that you are out of place and that you really need to police real issues that are related to article integrity. I see no good reason for you to persist with this. It's almost like you're doing this because you can. This change is minor. Let it go. Follow the spirit of the law, not the letter of the law. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.75.118.177 (talk) 15:39, 12 April 2012 (UTC)

It's not minor at all. His name is Bobby Jindal in the media, it's Bobby Jindal on the official Louisiana Governor's website.[10]. Given that he is a potential VP candidate this could be seen as an attempt to draw attention to the fact that his parents were Indian. Don't do this again, please.Dougweller (talk) 14:05, 16 April 2012 (UTC)

Largest Parish

The introductory paragraph claims that the largest Parish by land area is Cameron Parish but when following the link through to the page "List of parishes in Louisiana" the largest parish by area is Plaquemines Parish.--97.89.212.42 (talk) 02:19, 19 August 2012 (UTC)

Bobby Jindal or Piyush "Bobby" Jindal

The title of the article for the current governor is Bobby Jindal, per WP:commonname. Once again several IPs have jumped in on this page to change the linked name in the infobox to "Piyush "Bobby" Jindal", which redirects to Bobby Jindal. We had the same situation last spring with a person using 2 IPs to edit war over this, I went to 4 reverts with the IPs(I believed it was vandalism at the time as they refused to answer to the escalating warning templates I left them), and I got a 4RR block and a slap for "biting the newbs" and the IP a got an apology. Would the regular editors of this page care to chime in on this matter this time and help build a consensus for which version of the name should be used in the infobox, the common name or the redirect with his actual name with his nickname inserted? I don't really care which is used, although I think common practice is to use the commonname rather than a redirect for something like this. But I would like to know which way or the other the community stands on this issue. Thanks, Heiro 03:41, 11 October 2012 (UTC)

Keep it at "Bobby". The reasons are so obvious I'm not going to bother giving any. AlexiusHoratius 04:06, 11 October 2012 (UTC)

keep at Bobby, just like for Mitt. Choyoołʼįįhí:Seb az86556 ^{> haneʼ} 04:21, 11 October 2012 (UTC)

Please see [this message at the IP talk]. Heiro 17:43, 12 October 2012 (UTC)

Bobby. As I said when I reverted the IP last time, "give name the way it is normally given in the media, on official state websites". I'm not a supporter of this guy, but I can't see a good reason to change it and I can see bad reasons to do it. Dougweller (talk) 18:40, 12 October 2012 (UTC)

Education in Louisiana

This section is empty and only links to lists and an article that doesn't have much to do with education in Louisiana. Is there a reason why its so empty? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.12.237.108 (talk) 09:01, 20 February 2013 (UTC)

Because this is an all volunteer organization and no one has volunteered to expand/add this yet? There is always this guideline : WP:SOFIXIT Heiro 09:59, 20 February 2013 (UTC)

Copyvio

I've just deleted material from [11], Caryn Cossé Bell, “Haitian Immigration to Louisiana in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries,” in In Motion: The African American Migration Experience: Caribbean Migrations, Haitian Immigration: Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries,” 2005. Dougweller (talk) 17:55, 7 April 2013 (UTC)

History Stops at 1803

The history section of this article stops with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. The article does not mention when and under what circumstances Louisiana became a U.S. state. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Montemanm1 (talk • contribs) 18:15, 16 May 2013 (UTC)

Guess you missed this " Main article: History of Louisiana" at the top of the history section. Heiro 19:52, 16 May 2013 (UTC)

Future Cities

New Corporation

1. ''''Fairview Alpha, Louisiana'''' a city
2. Jordan Hill, Louisiana a village
3. Wood, Louisiana a village
4. ''''Redoak, Louisiana'''' a city
5. East Point, Louisiana a village
6. 'Elm Grove, Louisiana' a town
7. Grand Bayou, Louisiana a village
8. Creston, Louisiana a village
9. ''''Red Chute, Louisiana'''' a city
10. ''''East Natchitoches, Louisiana'''' a city
11. Derry, Louisiana

New Sellement

1. Natchitoches, Louisiana 'town' to ''''city''''
2. Logansport, Louisiana 'town' to ''''city''''
3. Numbered list item
4. Numbered list item
5. Numbered list item
6. Numbered list item
7. Numbered list item
8. Numbered list item
9. Numbered list item
10. Numbered list item

New Populated Places

1. ''''Wagon Wheel, Louisiana''''
2. Woodwoof, Louisiana
3. Woodfield, Louisiana
4. Adkinsville, Louisiana
5. Numbered list item
6. Numbered list item
7. Numbered list item

— Preceding unsigned comment added by Dragon Rap221 (talk • contribs)

Dragon Rap221, what is the purpose of this list you've put here? What do you want discussed? Wondering, -- Infrogmation (talk) 02:39, 30 July 2013 (UTC)

this article makes no mention of the rebellion against spain and the creation of the West Florida Republic. it was it's own country for 10 days until annexed by the US — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.37.249.68 (talk) 16:44, 3 September 2013 (UTC)

Lot of repeating

There is a use of two paragraphs that redundantly state the same things and some other issues:

• "During these decades after the American Revolutionary War, more than one million enslaved African Americans underwent forced migration from the Upper South to the Deep South, two thirds of them in the slave trade. Others were transported by their masters as slaveholders moved west for new lands." and,

• "With changing agriculture in the Upper South as planters shifted from tobacco to less labor-intensive mixed agriculture, planters had excess laborers. Many sold slaves to traders to take to the Deep South. Slaves were driven by traders overland from the Upper South or transported to New Orleans and other coastal markets by ship in the coastwise slave trade.".

The problems I see are: During "these" (who? and plural) and "decades" (also plural) should be "the" decades. There is the use of two separate paragraphs (within the same subject), and three sentences to say nearly the same thing. A suggestion:

• During the period between the American Revolutionary War, and the ending of the Antebellum Period with the Emancipation Proclamation, more than one million slaves underwent forced migration from the Upper South to the Deep South. With a shift from tobacco to less labor intensive mixed agriculture there was an excess in laborers. Slaves were driven overland to various destinations that included New Orleans and by ship to other coastwise slave trade markets. Otr500 (talk) 01:30, 8 October 2013 (UTC)

Copyright problem removed

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Interstate Highways in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

There is an I-210 Interstate Highway in Lake Charles, Louisiana. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.193.205.191 (talk) 05:06, 20 March 2015 (UTC)