Protector of the Indians
Protector of the Indians (Spanish: Protectoría de Los Indios) was an administrative office of the Spanish colonies that deemed themselves responsible for attending to the well-being of the Native populations by providing detailed witness accounts of mistreatment in an attempt to relay their struggles and a voice speaking on their behalf in courts, reporting back to the King of Spain. The establishment of the administration of the Protector of the Indians is due in part to Bartolomé de las Casas – the first Protector of the American Indians, and Fray Francisco Jimenez de Cisneros, the great Cardinal Regent of Spain.