Blackfoot Crossing - news release

MUSEUM OPENING IS LARGEST FIRST NATIONS TOURIST ATTRACTION

Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park Opens July 18, 2007
Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park, located in Alberta’s Badlands, will become the
largest First Nations owned and operated museum in Canada when it celebrates its
opening on July 18, 2007 (open to the public July 19).

The $25 million, 62,000 square foot museum will offer visitors an experience including
a $3 million Blackfoot heritage exhibition, contemporary and traditional dance in the
theatre, and a tipi village where guests can camp overnight and enjoy traditional Blackfoot
cuisine. The facility also offers conference and meeting services as well as an Aboriginal cultural products retail business that offers traditional and contemporary Aboriginal arts, crafts, sculpture and jewellery from across Canada.

Blackfoot Crossing’s facility is located on the top of a hill overlooking a 6,000-acre historical park where visitors can experience an ancient Mandan Earth Lodge and visit the site where Chief Crowfoot, signatory of Treaty Seven, is buried. The Park will offer outdoor tours including an eco-tour in the picturesque valley containing one of the few remaining pristine prairie river eco-systems.

The Blackfoot Crossing facility and historical park represents a twenty year effort by residents of Siksika Nation, one of three Blackfoot communities in Canada and located 110 kilometers east of Calgary.

T. Jack Royal, President and General Manager of Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park
revealed that the total cost to open and operate the Park is estimated at $33 million
making it the largest single First Nation cultural tourist attraction in Canada.

Blackfoot Crossing has enlisted the assistance of Mohawk impresario John Kim Bell
of Bell & Bernard Limited to design the business plan and to oversee the opening and operation of the Park. Bell, best known as the founder of the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation and the National Aboriginal Achievement Awards, is one of
the most successful First Nations entrepreneurs in Canada.

Chief Adrian Stimson of Siksika Nation stated, “John Kim Bell is one of the most
decorated and effective First Nations leaders in Canada and we are very pleased to have him and his company working with us on the development and operation of our Park”.

Cindy Amos, Executive Director of Canadian Badlands Ltd. stated, “We are very excited to
add Blackfoot Crossing to the constellation of the Canadian Badlands Region tourist attractions. The Government of Alberta has designated the Canadian Badlands Region as a strategic tourist destination region in Alberta, and Blackfoot Crossing will definitely be one of the major attractions in the area.”

Blackfoot Crossing will hold a private Grand Opening ceremony on July 18 with the public
opening on July 19, 2007.

The Grand Opening will be attended by The Honourable Norman L. Kwong, CM, AOE,
Lieutenant Governor of Alberta; National Chief Phil Fontaine; Hon. Lyle Oberg, Minister of
Finance for Alberta; Hon. Jim Prentice, Minister, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada; Chief
Adrian Stimson of Siksika Nation; corporate and Aboriginal leaders, and Siksika community members.

Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park is located 100 kilometers east on Highway 1 (TransCanada
Highway) and 7 kilometers south on Highway 842 in the Canadian Badlands Region.
 

www.blackfootcrossing.ca
1.403.734.5171
P.O Box 1639
Siksika, AB
T0J 3W0

For further informaton about Bell & Bernard Limited please contact:
Trina Moyan
Director of Communications, Bell & Bernard Limited
519.445.1222 or email trinamoyan@bellbernard.com
www.bellbernard.com