Kahungunu was the great-grandson of Tamatea-mai-tawhiti, (Tamatea from Tahiti) the captain of the Takitimu voyaging waka.

And he was the son of Tamatea-pokai-whenua, (Tamatea encircling the land) New Zealand's first extreme sports enthusiast. Kahungunu's father took a 50-man canoe around all of New Zealand, and then arriving back in Cook Strait, decided to take a bit of a cross-country short-cut home to Tauranga.

He and his 50 men poled their big canoe all the way up the Whanganui river, portaged it across to Lake Rotoaira, navigated down the Tongariro river, sailed across Lake Taupo, and started down the Waikato river.

He tried to shoot the Huka Falls in that big canoe, but he and most of his men were drowned in the attempt. (He must have been quite crazy, but he is my favourite old New Zealand hero - JA)

Kahungunu inherited the daring, energy and leadership of his two Tamatea ancestors. Handsome and hard working, he married many women during his lifetime, and his many descendants later made many strategic marriages, creating a network of alliances from Gisborne to the Wairarapa.
Kahungunu's other wives

Rongomaiwahine was Kahungunu's last wife. She and her first husband Tamatakutai, a carver, lived at Tawapata, on the eastern side of the Mahia Peninsula.

But when Kahungunu arrived at Mahia, he was determined to have Rongomaiwahine for himself.

Greeting card by Fay Looney - order here.

So he set about gaining the approval of Rongomaiwahine's people. He climbed a hill behind the village at Tawapata, where he watched the shags diving, and he practised holding his breath until the birds reappeared.

Then he went diving himself: holding his breath for long periods, he filled several containers with paua (abalone shellfish) - enough for all the occupants of the village. When he surfaced from his final dive he had covered his chest with the paua, and everyone was very impressed.

Kahungunu then set out to create discord between Tamatakutai and Rongomaiwahine and her husband.

One version of the story says that he ate paua roe and surreptitiously farted under the couple's bed coverings. They accused one another and an argument resulted.

The next morning, Kahungunu joined Tamatakutai in the sport of surfing in a canoe. Kahungunu took over the steering and capsized it on a particularly large wave. Tamatakutai, unable to swim, was drowned.

Another story tells how the meal of paua made Rongomaiwahine fart continually during the night, inducing her to leave her husband's side and go out to relieve herself at the distant latine.... . And as she came back, Kahungunu was waiting for her. This story says he successfully wooed her that night, and thus changed the whole Maori history of the East Coast.

After Rongomaiwahine took Kahungunu for her husband, their principal pa was Maunga-a-Kahia. Rongomaiwahine had two daughters by Tamatakutai and then three sons and two more daughters by Kahungunu.

Some Maori identify themselves as both Ngati Rongomaiwahine and Ngati Kahungunu. But the mana of Rongomaiwahine is so great that those who are descended from her first two daughters identify themselves only as Ngati Rongomaiwahine.