* Dewey Balfa; Fiddler Spread Cajun Music

Dewey Balfa, 65, a fiddler who introduced the nation to Cajun music from the Louisiana bayous. Cajuns are descendants of French Canadians who were expelled from Nova Scotia in the mid-1700s for their religious beliefs. Balfa lived his entire life in the bayou country. He discovered a national audience at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1964 for music that had been considered “bayou trash.” He later helped the Smithsonian Institution set up the first Tribute to Cajun Music Festival in 1977, and won a federal grant to teach the music in Cajun area schools. On Wednesday in Eunice, La., of cancer.