The Europeans learned to use the American groundnut from the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. As a result, the American groundnut became interwoven with the history of the American colonies and Europe. The early traveler John Brereton was sustained by the "good meat" and "medicinable" qualities of American groundnut during his travels in New England in 1602. In 1613, the followers of Biencourt at Port-Royal ate the tubers to help them survive in the New World. The American groundnut was an important factor in the survival of the Pilgrims during the first few winters of their settlement. In 1623 the Pilgrims, "having but a small quantity of corn left," were "enforced to live on groundnuts... and such other things that the country afforded... and were easily gotten...". The Pilgrims were taught to find and prepare American groundnut by the Wampanoag people. The groundnut was likely eaten at the harvest festival of November 1621 that is regarded as the first Thanksgiving, although only venison was specifically named as a food item at this meal by a Pilgrim eyewitness account.