Chief Red Eagle appoints new Treasurer for Osage Nation

A former Cherokee Nation Treasurer has been appointed by Osage Nation Principal Chief John Red Eagle to oversee the tribe’s accounting and financial operations.

Chief Red Eagle appointed Callie M. Catcher (Cherokee) to be the Nation’s treasurer, according to a March 5 statement from his office. Catcher’s appointment will be subject to confirmation by the ON Congress, which meets later this month for the 2012 Hun-Kah Session.

According to her resume, Catcher has 30 years of experience working in manufacturing and government sectors. From 2007 to 2011, Catcher was Treasurer of Oklahoma’s largest Native American tribe and oversaw its financial operations including an annual government budget that reached $600 million.

“Bringing Callie on board is an excellent addition to our tribe,” Chief Red Eagle said in his statement. “She has the experience we were looking for when filling this position, and we’re delighted to welcome her to the Osage Nation.”

Catcher joins the Nation as the third appointed Treasurer in the 2006 reformed tribal government’s history. She served as CN Treasurer after being appointed by former Principal Chief Chad Smith and was confirmed by the Cherokee Tribal Council, according to an article in the Cherokee Phoenix newspaper.

Catcher’s appointment comes nearly one month after her predecessor, William Kemble, resigned from office amid a Congressional investigation of accounting practices/ transactions and policy changes made during his tenure.

According to her resume, Catcher is a 1979 graduate of Northeastern State University with her bachelor’s in accounting and business administration and she is a certified public accountant registered in Oklahoma as of 1981.

Catcher spent the last 10 years working for her tribe in other posts which include: Acting CEO of the tribe’s business arm management, Cherokee Nation Businesses Inc. (2005-2007) and Secretary-Treasurer & Controller of the CN tribal government (2002-2005).

Before her government work, Catcher worked in financial management positions for manufacturing companies including: Dover Resources Inc. (a holding company for diversified manufacturing companies in Tulsa) as controller; and Coburn Optical Industries Inc. (optical equipment and supplies manufacturer in Tulsa) as finance director, accounting manager and financial analyst. She was also controller of Thermofil, Inc. (a compounded plastics manufacturer in Michigan) from 1993-1995.

While working for the Cherokee Nation, Catcher led an implementation of the CN Enterprise Resource Planning system, which provides opportunities “to update and document processes and procedures to ensure accuracy, efficiency in processing, as well as timely financial information for executive team. The monthly (financial) closing process was reduced to a three-day cycle versus several weeks,” her resume stated.

During her tenure, Catcher said the CN annual operating budget increased from $200 million to $600 million. She also updated the Nation’s policies and procedures to comply with tribal and federal regulations and listed several accomplishments including: Successfully obtaining financing for three health care clinics through issuing tax-exempt bonds and bank qualified tax-exempt financing; and the CN received the Government Finance Officer’s Association Certificate for Achievement of Excellence in Financial Reporting during her Treasurer tenure.

Chris White, executive director of governmental affairs for Chief Red Eagle’s office, said Catcher’s first ON work day will be Monday March 12.

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