A hukilau is a way of fishing

Fishing

Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....

 invented by the ancient Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

ans. The word comes from huki, meaning pull, and lau, meaning leaves. A large number of people, usually family and friends, would work together in casting the net from shore and then pulling it back. The net was lined with ki leaves, which would help scare the fish into the center of the net. http://www.laiebeachretreat.com/hukilau_song.htm Consistent with the Hawaiian subsistence economy

Subsistence economy

A subsistence economy is an economy which refers simply to the gathering or amassment of objects of value; the increase in wealth; or the creation of wealth. Capital can be generally defined as assets invested with the expectation that their value will increase, usually because there is the...

, anybody who helped could share in the catch. Hukilau Beach, in Lā'ie

La'ie, Hawai'i

Laie is a census-designated place located in the Koolauloa District on the island of Oahu in Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States. In Hawaiian, lāie means "ie leaf" . The population was 4,585 at the 2000 census.-History:Historically, Laie was a puuhonua, a sanctuary for fugitives...

, is named after the technique, which has been used there for centuries.

A festive beach gathering is also known to local Hawaiians as a hukilau.