Off Grid home cooling ideas for the humid South

Hi,
Just wondering if anyone has any ideas to cool one's home in the southern US (TN). I've read and seen a few videos on swamp coolers. If I understand everything correctly, in order to get the best out of a swamp cooler your climate cannot be very humid. I'm wondering if there are any other ways/products to beat the heat and humidity without beating up the wallet?
Thanks for your input in advance.

I'm very interested in passive home cooling.  Here's a link to some ideas:  http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Cooling/passive_cooling.htm

Off the top of my head there are earth tubes, passive annual heat storage, earth berming, vine/growth coverings for walls and roofs, using heat risers to create a draft...

Are you looking to implement these on an existing structure or are you building custom?

H Ludi Tyler wrote:
I'm very interested in passive home cooling.  Here's a link to some ideas:  http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Cooling/passive_cooling.htm

That's an interesting site. 

I just made a thread about this.... https://permies.com/permaculture-forums/9853_0/alternative-energy/more-or-less-free-cooling-for-your-house-if-you-water-your-plants

I am still at the tinkering phase but its very cheap or free to try out with a soaker hose and see what kind of gains you might get. If you lived near moving water, you could have a ram pump do the water moving work with no inputs after it is installed. I love the idea of cooling the house at the point much of the suns power enters it.