iCloud causing multiple duplicative copies to be made of all of the files on our MacBook Pro laptop

We have a couple folders on our MacBook Pro laptop desktop (e.g. Finances, Photos, etc.) and there are dozens of duplicative copies being made of every single file continuously. Example: There's the original file (e.g. "Checking") and then under it are 20 different copies that have the iCloud symbol ('in iCloud", eg the cloud with the arrow pointing down) next to it that are being made (e.g. "Checking 1", "Checking 2", "Checking 3") ad nauseam.

How in the heck do we turn off whatever function is running now? Even when I delete every single copy of that file, including the original, the computer starts saving multiple copies of the file again, presumably from the cloud. It's chaos.