It's funny. I personally take umbrage when I hear about exploitation of Inuit art. First, when I buy, I buy outright, so there's no consignment. I buy everything from the Inuit-owned co-operative. In other words, when an artist sells his or her work to the co-op, the co-op of which they are a shareholder sells it to me. They make money off the primary sale to the co-op, and as shareholders, they have a return as well.
Just to come back to Kenojuak's The Enchanted Owl, forgetting the fact that these figures are from the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative, of which Kenojuak was a member, her earnings in 2016 from royalties for The Enchanted Owl were $28,050. The previous year they were only $13,000. What is also not mentioned is that about 10 years ago the co-op found a proof copy of The Enchanted Owl, which was sold in Toronto at Waddington's for $60,000, and the entire proceeds of the sale were given to Kenojuak.
This is perhaps the worst example of an artist being taken advantage of that I've ever seen. She didn't get $24 for The Enchanted Owl. Over the years it provided a lifetime of revenue, and $60,000 for a resale.
All this is to say that the artists are members of the co-operative. I buy from the co-op. When I'm buying it and reselling it at the gallery, it's at a percentage no different from that for an artist who brings in his or her work off the street and consigns it to me. There isn't any great exploitation that I can see.