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NC Woman Welcomes Man's Image on Her Door
Jeanie Dilday doesn't know whether the appearance is a supernatural phenomenon or a quirk of the wood grain.
But the home she's lived in for seven years hasn't been the same since The Chief showed up at, or rather, on her front door.
"It's not drawn on," she said. "It's not a hoax."
The image is in the form of a shadowy outline of a man's face with a stoic demeanor, eyes in narrow slits and mouth closed tight. He seems to wear a ceremonial headdress. Many who have stepped in Dilday's living room for a look say he resembles an American Indian tribal leader.
Dilday, who lives about 100 miles northeast of Raleigh in rural Hertford County, said the image began taking shape on the inside of the oak door three months ago, and has gradually become clearer.
Hundreds of people have come to the house to gaze at the door. Dilday said some have screamed and dashed out.
Most stand back, point out the features and chat with Dilday. She started a guest book several weeks ago. More than 200 people have signed.
Dilday and her husband, Lee, have no qualms about sharing the room with the apparition she dubbed The Chief.
"I don't feel threatened by it," she said. "I feel safe."
Dilday, 57, runs a florist business in the house, a one-story wood frame structure built about 40 years ago by an American Indian with wood from the site. A few older houses line the two-lane blacktop road on either side, and a dozen or so new doublewide mobile homes are scattered around a new subdivision on what had been open land.
The Chief's appearance coincided with construction of a subdivision on nearby property that Dilday says had been an American Indian cemetery. She said that grave sites were disturbed and that the apparition might be a sign of spiritual unrest.
"I've been told by several Native American people it's not through developing," she said of the image. "It's going to be there until something is made right."
Denyce C. Hall of the Meherrin Indian Tribe in Hertford County said she doesn't know what to make of The Chief. She said the first time she saw him, she immediately thought he resembled a photograph of her husband's uncle, a former tribal leader who was pictured in tribal regalia. She said she did not think the image was that of the man, who died several years ago, but their physical features were strikingly similar.
"This image is something that people in this area can relate to," she said, sitting on couch in Dilday's living room, a few feet from the door.
She said some members of the Meherrin tribe, which has about 900 members, recall a cemetery near Dilday's home.
Gregory A. Richardson, executive director of the N.C. Commission on Indian Affairs, said the agency had been contacted about the possible desecration, but he did not have specific information about a cemetery at the site. "Right now, it's in the realm of hearsay," he said.
Elk Richardson, a commission employee, said he inspected the image out of personal interest and found it "really astonishing."
"The image certainly has features that are Native American," he said.
The Chief is not clearly visible to everyone. For example, the face is not distinct, but eyes, mouth and chin are formed by dark patches in the light-colored wood. Lines emanating from the top resemble bird feathers in a headdress. Some see face paint.
Stacey Freeman, who lives in the new subdivision, was skeptical of claims about desecrated graves and about the image itself. He said it took him a while to see an identifiable shape on the door.
"I just think if you look long enough, you can see anything," he said. "I didn't see anything special."
Doubters don't deter Dilday. She believes The Chief made his appearance on her door for a reason.
"It might sound silly, but he chose me to speak for him," she said, "and I'm going to speak for him."
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