"In this study on the social and cultural life of Thule Inuit (A.D. 1250-1400), I have developed an innovative form of collaboration between archaeological and anthropological research, and the Inuit community. I conducted stylistic analyses of artefacts from three archaeological sites on Somerset Island in Nunavut (Qariaraqyuk PaJs-2, Learmonth PeJr-1, Cape Garry PcJq-5) based on Inuit elders' knowledge about their traditional material culture. To do so, I examined oral history archives from the Inullariit Elders Society in Igloolik and I organised group discussions around Inuit collections at the McCord Museum with Inuit elders visiting Montreal for medical reasons. Following the method of ethnographic analogy between contemporary Inuit and their Thule Inuit ancestors, the elders' perspectives were used to identify the various roles played by everyday life objects (hunting equipment, sewing paraphernalia, personal knives, body and clothing ornaments and amulets) in the construction of personal and group identities, the maintenance of family and community relations and processes of social differentiation among Inuit and their ancestors. I shed light on highly complex social networks within and between three Thule Inuit villages, in which life was centred on bowhead whale hunting, as well as the trade and accumulation of material wealth (meteoric iron, native copper, amber and ivory). I found that occupants of each village formed interfamilial alliances that were reflected in the settlement patterns and the distribution of the artefacts' stylistic attributes. I observed an intensification of social interactions around the kariyiit, the ceremonial dwellings associated with the whale hunt. I also found that the mechanisms for social differentiation within each village were not only linked to the participation in whaling activities, but also to the gathering of complementary resources (ex: locally scarce materials and food). From a regional perspective, I found that the wealthier and internally more differentiated villages were also the ones that were settled in clusters. These communities reached a socio-economic equilibrium in these external social networks, between villages. Contrarily, I observed that an isolated village showed less accumulation of material wealth, but a better internal socio-economic equilibrium, notably at the gender level. Besides the contribution to archaeological knowledge, my collaborative approach participated actively in the valorisation of Inuit elders' traditional knowledge, while offering them an activity that was culturally relevant and socially inclusive during their medical stay in Montreal. " --