David Ahenakew claims he had no idea he was being taped when he told a newspaper reporter when he made controversial comments.

The one-time head of the Assembly of First Nations testified Monday in support of his lawyer's attempt to have the interview tape excluded as evidence from his hate-crimes trial.

Monday was the first day of hearings in the case, which is expected to last a week.

In response to Saskatoon StarPhoenix reporter James Parker's testimony that he was holding the tape recorder right in front of the accused's face, Ahenakew said he didn't see it.

"Maybe he has big hands," Ahenakew said.

When proceedings began in Saskatoon on Monday, lawyer Doug Christie also argued that a speech his client made to the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations in December 2002 was essentially a private conversation.

As such, Christie said, the speech can't be used to prosecute Ahenakew.

"The communications have to be other than private communications," Christie told provincial court Judge Marty Irwin. "I realize it is, perhaps, a process of exclusion unique to this section of the Criminal Code.''

It was Ahenakew's comments -- in that speech and his subsequent response to Parker's questions -- that led to charges under a section of the Criminal Code that prohibits the willful promotion of hatred against an identifiable group.

Although the conference was focused on First Nations health policy issues, in his wide-ranging speech, Ahenakew touched on everything from treaty rights to international terrorism.

Christie argued Monday that the tape of the interview should also be excluded from evidence.

Facing a sentence of up to six months in jail is he's found guilty, 71-year-old Ahenakew pleaded not guilty in October 2003 to the charges against him.

Christie has gained notoriety for defending far-right figures charged with hate-related crimes, including Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel. Christie replaced Alan Gold, Ahenakew's first lawyer.

Ahenakew was 35 when he became the youngest man ever elected as chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations in 1968. His term of 10 years set a record for the job.

Already stripped of his position as a senator with the Indian Federation, Ahenakew's status as a member of the Order of Canada has also been called into question. The committee in charge of that honour is delaying its review until the criminal trial is done.

With files from The Canadian Press