MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — In a country with so much diversity, around 8.75 million people identify, at least partially, as American Indian or Alaska Native.

In Minnesota, a state with more than 100,000 of those residents, the Dakota people have the largest presence.

Shelley Buck, who has devoted her life to her culture and tribe, serves as the president of Friends of the Falls. She is pushing to transform the heart of Minneapolis' Central Riverfront into an iconic destination honoring Indigenous history.

Friends of the Falls has been working with the City of Minneapolis, the Minneapolis Park Board and Dakota nations to possibly reassume ownership of a historic stretch of the city's downtown riverfront that was traditionally a Dakota sacred site.

"I want it to be a place of healing, connecting and reconnecting," Buck said. "A place for education where we can educate the people about things they weren't taught growing up and also that community building."

Dakota people went to Owámniyomni, meaning turbulent waters, for ceremony and women traveled to Spirit Island to give birth. Both sites have since experienced extensive damage and destruction.

"Friends of the Falls did a ton of work to arrive at a vision for what this place could ultimately be, that would highlight it in a way that would set us apart as a city and sets this particular destination apart from anything else you'll find in the rest of the country," said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.

Frey says acknowledgment of the lost history is one part of the process. He said another part is rectifying broken treaties.

"This is an opportunity for us to use that same legal system that did wrong to do right," Frey said.

Buck points out it's rare for people to want to help tribes get their land back.

"And saying, 'Here you go, it's your project. It needs to be native-led and native-focused, have at it.' You never hear about that," Buck said.

This project began with non-native people. People like Kjersti Duval, the CEO of Duval Companies, which is a real estate development and policy solutions company, first helped to protect the site.

"I was really one of those folks that were there at the beginning," Duval said. "The initial push was to prevent the site from further industrialization."

Quickly, native leaders were brought on board. One of the biggest hurdles is working to change land ownership.

"It has been extremely difficult to move this very small piece of land from federal ownership to local ownership. Like I said, seven years, it should be easier," Duval said.

These leaders want their work to be encouraging and emulated in other parts of the country.

"Great opportunity to touch people to have something that was once invisible become very visible, become a learning opportunity," Duval said.

"I'm excited for this to be a one-of-a-kind and really something that can help other states work towards," Buck said.

With inflation taking a big bite out of budgets and holiday shopping bills coming soon, what can consumers do if they need an appliance?

The easy solution may be renting. But one woman found out it can be a very expensive proposition.

After her old washer and dryer broke, Nicole Broomfield decided to go the rent-to-own route. She brought home a new Kenmore set.

"It should have been $1,792 and some change," she said the salesman told her.

That's what she thought she would be paying for her one-year rental — until the company sent her a letter at the end of the year.

Broomfield quickly learned she had been charged "a little over $6,000, close to $7,000," she said.

It turned out she had paid almost $7,000 for a basic, white, top-loading washer that retailed for $800 online, and a plain white dryer that should have cost $700.

Broomfield insists she was only told about the reasonable weekly payments and never read the fine print, because there was no paperwork.

The store only showed her a digital contract to sign on her phone.

Renters stunned by high bills

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) receives hundreds of complaints a year from consumers stunned by high rent-to-own bills. The organization warns that once a customer signs, there's often no way out.

"Legally, not much can be done when you sign the contract," said Sara Kemerer of the BBB.

Kemerer says to beware of low introductory rates and to find out what the total payment over the course of that rental period will be.

"A lot of people take their finances week by week, so they are enticed by that great starting low interest rate, and then it only skyrockets and increases," Kemerer said.

NerdWallet.com put it into perspective. They report that a $450 HD TV paid with a credit card carries $90 interest over 22 months, which is reasonable. However, they said, the same TV at a rent-to-own store with a one-year, $20-a-week rental puts the price tag at more than $1,000 — nearly $600 over the cash price.

Rent-to-own contracts are not the only thing that consumers need to look out for. The Federal Trade Commission says zero-interest buys are also a big deal around the holidays.

Those can work out fine as long as a customer pays off the entire bill before the end of the term. But if they go just one day past due, they could be on the hook for all the interest that was supposed to have been saved.

Depending on what the person bought, it could be hundreds of dollars.

So, read the contract before you buy, so you don't waste your money.

__________________________

Don't Waste Your Money" is a registered trademark of Scripps Media, Inc. ("Scripps").

Like" John Matarese Money on Facebook

Follow John on Instagram @johnmataresemoney

Follow John on Twitter (@JohnMatarese)

For more consumer news and money saving advice, go to www.dontwasteyourmoney.com