Right of Possession Law and Legal Definition
According to 25 USCS § 3001 [Title 25. Indians, Chapter 32. Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation] the term, "right of possession" means "possession obtained with the voluntary consent of an individual or group that had authority of alienation. The original acquisition of a Native American unassociated funerary object, sacred object or object of cultural patrimony from an Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization with the voluntary consent of an individual or group with authority to alienate such object is deemed to give right of possession of that object, unless the phrase so defined would, as applied in section 7(c) [25 USCS § 3005(c)], result in a Fifth Amendment taking by the United States as determined by the United States Claims Court [United States Court of Federal Claims] pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1491 in which event the "right of possession" shall be as provided under otherwise applicable property law. The original acquisition of Native American human remains and associated funerary objects which were excavated, exhumed, or otherwise obtained with full knowledge and consent of the next of kin or the official governing body of the appropriate culturally affiliated Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization is deemed to give right of possession to those remains."