Rodney Butler, chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, was among U.S. tribal leaders who accepted invitations to last Friday’s White House celebration of Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Senate confirmation to the Supreme Court.

The event, at which President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Jackson spoke, followed the Senate’s 53-47 vote the previous day to confirm Jackson, the first Black woman to serve on the court.

Butler said the Mashantuckets strongly supported Jackson’s nomination “for a multitude of reasons.”

“It was painful to watch the unwarranted political abuse Justice Brown Jackson endured during the confirmation hearings, but seeing how strong she stood on her moral conviction was inspiring for the entire Nation, and I could not miss the opportunity to celebrate her,” Butler wrote Tuesday in a statement.

“One of the most moving moments for me during the event Friday was when she recognized that she was there because of the generations before her who had shown through their determination and perseverance that good things are in fact possible,” Butler wrote. “It reminded me of home and the ‘Pequot perseverance’ that we often refer to that has driven my community for centuries.

"The parallel struggles among the African American, Native American, Latino, and other minority communities is a trauma-based bond we share. … That we can collectively celebrate in moments of progress such as this is an achievement for all of us.”

— Brian Hallenbeck