America will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence next month, and communities across the U.S. are planning celebrations. This historic milestone has me reflecting on the ancestors who came before me and helped build this nation, while also contemplating the future of the generations who will inherit it.My ancestry runs deep in America. My Cherokee ancestors were here centuries before European settlers arrived. Most of my English and European ancestors began arriving in the late 1500s and early 1600s. Like so many Americans, I can truly say my ancestors helped build this country.As a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, I often think about my great-great-grandmother, Francis “Fannie” Timberlake Bean. She was only 17 years old — just two years older than my grandsons are today — when she walked the Trail of Tears with her parents and siblings. Three of her siblings are buried along that tragic route. If Fannie could sit down with my grandsons today, what would she think of America? I believe she would be proud of her family’s survival, accomplishments and contributions to this nation. I believe my English and European ancestors would feel the same pride, knowing the values of faith, hard work, personal responsibility and service they passed down continue to live on in their descendants.Many Native American tribes embrace the Seven Generation Principle — the belief that when making our decisions today, we should consider their impact on the seventh generation to come. We are called to think beyond ourselves and our immediate needs, and instead act as caretakers of the future. That principle resonates deeply with me. In my own family, my grandsons represent the seventh generation from our ancestors’ forced journey to Oklahoma. My ancestors, both Native American and European, served in the military; farmed the land; built railroads, bridges and skyscrapers; taught in public schools and universities; preached from pulpits; raised families, and invested in their communities. They endured wars, economic hardships, displacement and uncertainty, yet they continued building a better future for those who would come after them.As America marks 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, perhaps the most important question is not what our ancestors gave us, but what we are leaving behind. Are we strengthening our communities or dividing them? Are we protecting our freedoms while honoring our responsibilities? Are we investing in our children, our schools, our infrastructure and our democracy? Are we preserving the opportunities that previous generations worked so hard to create?Every generation inherits an unfinished America. None of us receives a perfect nation, and none of us will leave one. The responsibility of citizenship is to leave it stronger, freer and more united than we found it. The America our ancestors entrusted to us is not ours to keep; it is ours to improve and pass forward.This Fourth of July, as we gather for parades, backyard cookouts and fireworks, take a moment to look at the children around you. Look at the faces of the generations who will carry America into its next 250 years. Then ask yourself a simple but powerful question: Am I being a good ancestor?Cheryl Leeds is a Cherokee Nation citizen, family historian, and community volunteer who lives in Tahlequah. Tags United States Generation Ancestor Native Americans In The United States United States Declaration Of Independence Cherokee Citizenship Indigenous Peoples Of North America Cnhiopinions Recommended for you