Arawak’s Description

Arawaks were short to middle height

Well shaped and slightly built some were like

Seeming physically weak compared to Europeans,

And those from the country of Africa, called Africans

The Arawaks appeared to have olive skin

They were as smooth as glass, brown and good looking

Distorted their features by artificial means,

To gain beauty like a sunset, for some it seems

The Arawaks flattened their skulls, sloping heads

With boards and bandages on babies’ foreheads

Giving greater resistance to any blow

That they grow up to believe and to know

They possessed wide nostrils and broad noses,

All children, men, babies and the ladies

With black, straight, long, coarse hair

The Arawaks took care

They painted their bodies in any colour

To be like a radiant, blooming flower

With beautifully painted eyes and nice faces

Having gold, hanging ornaments in their noses

But the Caciques had most ornaments

For he the one who was eminent

In San Salvador Columbus visited

The Arawaks there were completely

In Hispaniola and Cuba the married women

Wore cotton, fine cloth over their loins, unlike the men