AMC Grand Chief Derek Nepinak says solutions to problems facing aboriginal women must start at the local level. (CBC)

The Manitoba government appears willing to compromise in a dispute over who will have a seat at a national conference on missing and murdered aboriginal women.

The province is hosting a meeting of provincial government ministers and national aboriginal groups Nov. 1 and 2.

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs says it and other regional groups have been shut out of the meeting.

Assembly grand chief Derek Nepinak says community-based groups can offer solutions to the problems facing aboriginal women.

Manitoba Aboriginal and Northern Affairs Minister Eric Robinson says the conference — the third such meeting in the last seven years — is aimed at national groups, including the Assembly of First Nations.

But, he says, if the AFN and the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs want separate delegations, they will be given the opportunity.