The Haida House complex, located outside the Museum (and visible from the Great Hall), includes structures that would have been present in a nineteenth century Haida village. Constructed in 1962, this complex includes a large family dwelling and a smaller mortuary house similar to those used traditionally to hold the dead.

In front of the houses are examples of memorial and mortuary poles dating from 1951 to the present. Haida artist Bill Reid and 'Namgis artist Doug Cranmer oversaw the construction of the houses, and carved several of the adjacent poles. Other poles on display were carved by Jim Hart (Haida), Chief Walter and Rodney Harris (Gitxsan), and Mungo Martin (Kwakwaka'wakw). Framing the path to the complex are two massive houseboards carved by Musqueam artist Susan Point in 1997.

The newest pole on the site was raised on October 1, 2000 to replace an older, more fragile pole by Bill Reid, which was in need of conservation. (The older pole has since been raised in the Great Hall.) "The Respect to Bill Reid Pole," by Hereditary Chief and renowned Haida artist Jim Hart, now stands in front of the larger of the two Haida Houses - a magnificent tribute both to Bill Reid's legacy and to the continuing vitality of the Haida people.