Demonstrators first started coming to alcatraz after the us government closed the prison in 1963 and declared the property "surplus federal land.” officials wanted to sell the island to a private developer, but some american indian leaders had other ideas. they pointed out that a treaty between the united states and the sioux said all abandoned federal land should be returned to native people. the first group of american indian protestors arrived in march 1964 and occupied alcatraz for four hours. the small group of sioux demonstrators offered to pay the us government $9.40 for the island, or 47 cents per acre – the same amount the government was paying to use tribal lands. activists decided to state a larger action five years later, after the federal government offered to turn alcatraz into a national park. on the morning of november 20, 1969, seventy-nine american indians, many of them college students, set off for the island and began their occupation. why did the sioux demonstrators think it was fair to buy the entire island for only $9.40? they were already living on alcatraz. that was what they wanted to spend on it. it was land that would not be useful. it was the amount the government had paid.