Ngāti Kahungunu is a Māori iwi located along the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The iwi is traditionally centred in the Hawke's Bay and Wairārapa regions. The Kahungungu iwi also comprises 86 hapū (sub-tribes) and 90 marae.

Rongomaiwahine was a Māori chieftainess and chief ancestress of the Ngāti Rongomaiwahine, Ngāti Kahungunu, and Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki iwi. She lived on the Māhia Peninsula, probably in the late fifteenth century.