Frequently Asked Questions

To purchase a special piece of Inuit art, please use our contact page to tell us what you are looking for. We will do our best to source art for you, based on your specifications. The published works art on nanooq.ca’s Inuit gallery represent a small sample of what we have available.

All prices are in Canadian dollars (CAD).

We accept VISA or MASTERCARD, and PayPal.  At checkout, you can choose credit card payment or PayPal.

If you wish to pay via credit card do NOT login to PayPal, but you will still be taken to PayPal to process the secure transaction. Alternatively, should you wish to place a VISA/MasterCard order over the phone, please contact us or call 905-719-7075 during business hours.

Paypal is the easiest way to make payments online. While checking out, you will be redirected to the Paypal website. Be sure to fill in correct details for fast & hassle-free payment processing. It’s fast, easy and secure.

Yes, in most countries. It is commonly misunderstood that a Paypal account is needed in order to make payments through Paypal. The truth is you may not need one, although we strongly recommend you sign up to enjoy the added ease of use. Without a Paypal account, all you need is a credit card that is supported by Paypal.

Alternatively, should you wish to place a VISA/MasterCard order over the phone, please contact us or call 905-719-7075 during business hours.

The PayPal site is highly secure. They use industry-leading technology (such as SSL) to keep your information safe.

PayPal automatically encrypts your confidential information in transit from your computer using the Secure Sockets Layer protocol (SSL) with an encryption key length of 128-bits (the highest level commercially available).

Once your information reaches the PayPal site, it resides on a server that is heavily guarded both physically and electronically. PayPal servers sit behind an electronic firewall and are not directly connected to the internet, so your private information is available only to authorized computers.

Your order is held open for 30 minutes to allow you to make payment. Should payment of your order not be completed within 30 minutes, your order will be automatically cancelled.

If you decide at any time after 30 minutes of completing your order, please contact Nanooq Inuit Art to cancel your order.

All Inuit art purchases for shipment within Canada are subject to the application of the provincial and federal sales taxes of the shipping destination.

If your Inuit art purchase is to be shipped outside of Canada, sales taxes will not be applied.

Any import duties or brokerage fees are the responsibility of the customer.

U.S. Customers: Prints, drawings, sculptures, textiles and calendars are currently DUTY FREE under USMCA. Sometimes a small brokerage fee (beyond our control) may be applied upon delivery. Customers may experience delays in delivery while packages clear customs.

Please reach out to us on our CONTACT page if you have any questions.

Yes, we do charge for shipping. As a small business, we are not able to secure the highly discounted shipping rates available to larger businesses. We take great care to package your art with the utmost care. Your shipping fee also includes insurance in case of loss or damage during shipping.

Occasionally, due to differences in actual packaging dimensions and weight, shipping fees charged during checkout may be higher than the final calculation with the shipper. In this rare instance, refunds are issued to the customer.

Yes, we will ship to all destinations served by Canada Post. Some items are shipped via UPS. Inuit art can be shipped anywhere in the world, with one exception. Any and all Canadian art objects containing whalebone or ivory (tusks) cannot be shipped to the USA. It is prohibited under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) of 1972.

Orders within North America

Orders in Canada and the USA can be placed through our online shop. 

Orders outside North America

For orders outside of Canada and the USA, we invite you to complete our custom order form so a member of our team and follow-up with you to provide you with the best available shipping rates and timelines for your location. 

The igloo tag shown below is your guarantee of authenticity. It certifies the art you have purchased has been handmade by an Inuk artist. The Government of Canada registered the symbol of the Igloo as a trademark to identify Inuit artwork as authenticand to protect Inuit artists and buyers. This tag can only be attached to original Inuit carvings and other art from northern Canada.

Authentic Inuit prints are usually marked with identifying information in such forms as hand-stamped symbols or logos, and/or with inscriptions handwritten in pencil. These marks and inscriptions generally include the following:

• The print title will be in English and/or Inuktitut syllabics.
• The edition number (e.g. 12/50) is solely an identification and is not indicative of the order in which a print was pulled within an edition. A low or high number has no bearing on quality as may be the case with prints made elsewhere.
• The date on the print is usually, but not necessarily, the collection year. In the early days when prints were sent south by sea lift, they were usually dated the year previous to issue or when editioned. Today the date usually corresponds to the release date.
• The artist’s usually signs his or her name in pencil.
• The artist’s name is followed by the printer name(s) in English and sometimes in Inuktitut syllabics. Current practice dictates this order and from it follows the assumption that if only one name appears on the print that the artist was also the printer. In more recent years, personal printer chops (stamps) have been used on a more regular basis in Cape Dorset prints. In early Cape Dorset annual collections, elaborate, hand-carved chops were used to identify artists as well.
  Cape Dorset prints other than lithographs carry a vertical, Japanese-style arrangement of artist/printer/co-op chops (stamps) which appear randomly on the paper, often within the image area.
• The Canadian Eskimo Arts Council symbol usually appears on the edge of the paper outside the image area. First printed in black in 1961, it was blind-embossed on each print as of 1962. Translated, the syllabics read, “namatuk” or “genuine”, and its appearance on a print means that it is authentic and the design and technique met the professional standards of the CEAC. Although the CEAC symbol does not appear on prints from the 1957-1960 Cape Dorset collections, these prints are nevertheless authentic and well-recorded. The Council was dissolved in September 1989, and there is no longer any outside structure for authenticating prints. The individual Co-op or community symbols remain the guarantee of genuine Inuit-produced art.

No, we do not offer framing services. You are encouraged to take your new Inuit print to a quality framer in your community. Listed below are some tips to consider when having your print framed.

• You should choose the frame that pleases you and keep it simple.
• Don’t frame the art to match a room in your house.
• Prints are almost always put behind museum-quality glass for preservation.
• Prints need the protection of mats. The mat provides a rigid support for the work of art, to prevent bending, folding and other damage that might occur to the paper when being handled and touched.
• All materials used in the matting and framing should be archival. This basically means that matting boards are acid-free and are made of all-rag fibre. Any reputable framer will use archival materials.

If you are located in the Hamilton, Ontario area, we recommend the framing services of McMaster Gallery in Dundas.

Your Inuit art is of great value to you in so many ways. It is very important for the art to be insured against theft. Your homeowner or tenant insurance policy should provide coverage for your art, and the policy must be updated regularly to reflect additions and/or present valuations of your personal property, including art.

You are encouraged to speak with your insurer or its representative to ensure you have adequate coverage.

We do not purchase or consign previously owned pieces. We suggest you contact another gallery or auction house.

We are not certified art appraisers.