As Mudcat's resident Louisianan, I thought I wold have to make a contribution, but it looks to me like all the right answers have already been given!

I think of "Jambalaya" as an American country song, or more precisely as a Hank Williams song ~ definitely not as "Cajun music," and not even part of any indigenous Louisiana culture. (Not that there's anything wrong with that!) I would think that anyone who learns the song by hearing it is entirely entitled to sing it.

It's OK to have learned it by a combination of oral/aural tranasmission and reference to printed lyrics and sheet music, too, of course ~ but if a peron knows the song only from printed sources, and has no other hint of how to pronounce the words except for whatever phonetic spelling another web correspondent can provide, that's really not good enough. I would strongly suggest listening to Hank, or Fats, or any other "standard" recording.

You certainly don't have to be Cajun, or an expert on Cajun culture, to sing this soing that merely refers to Cajun culture. But you really should have first-hand knowledge of how the words sound.

PS: Jamabalaya is made with regular old white rice, not "wild rice," which is an entirely different plant. It's the cayenne pepper and andouille sausage that make the dish "wild."

per Wikipedia: "Andouille is a spiced, heavily smoked pork sausage, distinguished in some varieties by its use of the entire gastrointestinal system of the pig: for example, traditional French andouillette is composed primarily of the intestines and stomach. Though somewhat similar, it is not to be confused with Andouillette."