AUGUSTA – Penobscot Nation Chief Barry Dana tries to fight prejudice one person at a time, he said Tuesday.

Speaking at the Augusta Civic Center during an annual conference for student civil rights teams, he told several thought-provoking anecdotes about how tackling small-scale discrimination can reap big rewards.

Between 1,800 and 1,900 elementary, middle and high school students from 125 schools attended the annual event, which is sponsored by the Attorney General’s Office.

Starting in 1996 with 18 schools, there now are 188 civil rights teams across the state seeking to increase awareness of diversity issues and spur youth to take action against discrimination.

Sitting on bleachers Tuesday, the students listened raptly as Dana told his stories.

Years ago, at Phillips Lake in Lucerne-in-Maine, he said, he encountered a stranger who initiated a conversation by admiring the canoe Dana was carrying underneath his arm. The man, who Dana said was holding an alcoholic drink, asked if he was “an Indian or something.”

“Too bad you’re all alcoholics,” he said.

After acknowledging that a good friend had died from cirrhosis of the liver, Dana told him that, in fact, the rate of alcoholism among members of the Penobscot Nation was the lowest ever. “More people aren’t involved in alcohol than are involved,” he happily told the man.

The stranger made another observation. “It’s a shame you people don’t take more advantage of education,” he said.

Dana knew how to answer. A cousin who was particularly bright had dropped out of college, he said. But now he’s an electrician “making twice as much as me,” Dana added.

Things are looking up, he told the man. His sister recently had obtained a degree in physical therapy, another cousin had graduated from law school. And at the University of Maine a group of about 100 Indians had formed an organization.

The man then made a confession, Dana recalled. Acknowledging that he had a problem with alcohol and that he “could have gone further in school but was too lazy,” he finally shook Dana’s hand.

Eliminating prejudice can start with just one person, Dana told the students. “And who knows how many people he affected?” he said.

Growing up on Indian Island “was lots of fun,” Dana, 43, said. “I didn’t know what racism was because I was among my peers.” But he said he got a taste when he began attending Old Town High School.

Once, during an English class, the teacher discussed the early explorers who learned survival skills “from the savages.”

Horrified at the term, Dana said he summoned all his courage to speak up in front of the class.

A classmate turned to him, he recalled. “I never knew you felt that way,” she told him.

Dana told the group that at the time, he wasn’t sure if he had made a difference. “It may not appear … that you’ve changed the world, but I planted 30 seeds that day,” he said. “I don’t know if they flourished, but it felt good taking up for the entire tribe.”

In many ways, things are better today than when he was in high school, Dana told the group.

“But just because it’s better, it doesn’t mean it’s complete,” he said. “Rivers may be cleaner than they used to be, but are they clean enough? Like zero pollution, we need zero racism.”