Jim Bradshaw: A fraternal order of crawfish?

Elks and Moose and Owls and Lambs all had fraternal orders in south Louisiana in 1913, but a critter that was already becoming iconic had none.

That’s why some men in Abbeville decided it was time to create a social and fraternal organization recognizing the crawfish.

“The whole purpose of this order is the exploitation of the backward, but oh so sweet” crawfish, according to a report in the Abbeville Progress.

Members of the organization said it would be their mission to elevate the crawfish in the eyes of all.

They “have seen and felt the many good points of this humble creature,” the newspaper reported, and they found nobility enough to merit the recognition.

They further pointed out that elks and moose and some of the other animals for which fraternal orders were named were “confined only to certain regions,” but “the crawfish is found spread over the universe.”

“The members will endeavor to engrave upon the tablets of time a name that heretofore has seemingly escaped attention, possibly being considered too lowly,” according to the article, which went on to enumerate some of those good points.

Crawfish stick together, the club members said.

They “endeavor to back out of trouble,” and feel their way forward with caution. They fight for their rights, “but when the time comes for the sacrifice … they give up their small lives without a word.” Humans would do well to imitate these traits, members said, promising that “this organization will … endeavor to consecrate the word ‘Crawfish.’”

The first officers of the club were Claude Broussard, High Right Claw; Avery Theall, High Left Claw; A. G. Nauck, Trailer; and R. J. LaBauve, Feeler.

Their high esteem for the lowly crustacean did not mean that members of the club would swear off eating crawfish. It appears, in fact, that regular feasts were one of the organization’s primary goals.

“To keep this band together and in harmony and good spirits,” the Progress reported, “it is the intention of this order through different members to have weekly outings throughout the season to gather in their namesakes and have them attend banquets given in their honor and at which banquets there will be flows of reason and feasts of soul.”

The club members were even so gracious as to promise to bring their wives to the banquets “from time to time,” so that the club “will not be construed as a selfish order.”

It’s not clear whether the banquets were to be given in honor of the club members or the crawfish themselves, but I have my suspicions about how The Crawfish honored the crawfish.

Whatever the purpose, the newspaper applauded it.

“Lets [drink] one to the health and success of the Order of the Crawfish,” the newspaper article concluded. “Long may they live and happy may they be.”

I don’t know what happened to the club, but its spirit and purpose continue to be observed throughout south Louisiana.

That’s especially true about this time of year, when all of us think about “gathering in their namesakes” and recreating some of the rituals of the Order of the

Crawfish, although “flows of reason” are more usually flows of beer, and “feasts of soul” seem to have fallen by the wayside altogether.

You can contact Jim Bradshaw at jimbradshaw4321@gmail.com or P.O. Box 1121, Washington LA 70589.