Arrawaks, Or Lokono, a tribe on the Berbice and Surinam rivers, Guiana, noted for their mild and peaceful disposition and friendship for Europeans. They were, however, formerly a large, powerful, and warlike tribe, extending from the right bank of the Orinoco to the Surinam, and held all the Carib tribes in subjection, driving some to the Antilles. The French found them so powerful that they used them as a protection against other tribes. The Moravian missionaries in the 18th century did much to civilize them, and studied their language, printing in it various books for their converts. The fullest material for the study of their speech, which is regarded as one of the softest in America, is in the manuscripts of these missionaries preserved by the American philosophical society (Philadelphia). They were divided into families, apparently on the same principle as the Iroquois, but in greater number, as no fewer than 50 are enumeuated. Descent was in the female line.