We happen to have a very good family friend who is from a noble Toraja family. She is married to an Australian, and currently living in Bali. She has her family's kerises. A couple of years ago I had a long conversation with her about the practice of allowing women in her society to be custodians of family keris. What she told me was that in her society keris are no longer thought of as being particularly special, yes, they can be a part of the heirlooms of a family, but whoever is prepared to take care of those heirlooms, man or woman, may do so.
Going back maybe 30 years or so I noted a similar practice amongst Chinese families in Solo.
There are very few universal values, if any, when we examine the cultural position of the keris across various cultural groups. This is perhaps the major reason why I have progressively narrowed my focus to only those societies where there are still remnants of the original values associated with the keris. Many of these values did not transfer to those societies that received the keris from Jawa in the first instance, so it not at all to be expected to find those values in those societies now.
The wedung is a symbolic object, and female retainers of the appropriate rank in the Karaton Surakarta still carry one when formally dressed. The wedung carried by these women is invariably very much smaller than the male version.
Jean, we must make a distinction between "women" and women who are a part of a palace heirarchy, or of noble descent. I know I continually hammer this point ad nauseam, but we do not have even the vaguest possibility of understanding the keris and those cultural practices associated with it unless we first understand the culture. For example, here we are talking about "Sumatera". What does that mean? Which particular cultural or societal group are we talking about in Sumatera?
Personally, I know next to nothing about Sumatera, but if I wished to understand these little keris I would begin by examining the various cultural groups that can be found in Sumatera, one by one, and in detail. That is the place to start, we do not begin with the product of the culture, we begin with its roots and then work our way through to the product. Yes, slow, and often pretty boring, but it really is the only reliable way to gain understanding.
When I look at these pretty little keris that you have shown, I cannot help but feel that I am looking at something that has male essence. I would not expect such exuberance in a female keris. I really do feel that I'm looking at a scaled down version of a keris intended for wear with modern clothing --- something that could be tucked in under a jacket, or even worn openly without causing too much inconvenience. To my eyes these little keris just don't look like lady-gear.
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