Donate to the Matthew Tobin Cappetta Scholarship

The Matthew Tobin Cappetta Archaeological Scholarship Endowment was established by Patricia and Les Cappetta in memory of their son, Matthew Tobin Cappetta, who passed away on November 10, 2019, at the age of 30. Annually, the endowment provides four scholarships for graduate students pursuing Master's or PhDs in archaeology or ethnoarchaeology of the Indigenous Peoples of the American Southwest and South American Andes. Students working in other American regions, whether they are from the United States or other countries, will be considered if their research involves significant collaboration with Native American Indians. 

The scholarship covers tuition, course fees, and books or course materials for graduate-level classroom and field-based courses in anthropology, with emphasis in archaeology or ethnoarchaeology.  It also supports travel to a field school or directed study projects that lead to research papers, reports, journal articles, or advanced field research. 

Matthew graduated from George Mason University with a degree in anthropology/archaeology. His career included research projects with the Smithsonian Institution, the Loudoun Archaeological Foundation, and collaboration with the local indigenous community while completing excavations on behalf of the Peruvian Ministry of Culture.

In recent years, he focused on preserving Native American tribal lands and artifacts in California, working on sites in the Mojave Desert and the Los Angeles metropolitan area where he trained Native American monitors. Matthew was remembered by colleagues as someone who listened respectfully, built trust, understood the importance of Native American monitors' work, honored their traditions, and advocated strongly on their behalf. He was passionate about his work and read extensively about history, geology, archaeology, and rock art, happily sharing his knowledge with tribal monitors.

Matthew was very close to many of his colleagues, some of whom offered prayers in their native indigenous languages during his memorial services. He was highly inquisitive and lived a full life of family, friends, books, music, art, and history, amassing a wealth of knowledge about ancient civilizations and indigenous peoples. In addition to his professional pursuits, Matthew enjoyed creative writing and painting.

At the time of his death, Matthew was planning to enter graduate studies with the goal of teaching. In honoring his vision, Matthew's parents and loved ones hope that the Matthew Tobin Cappetta Archaeological Scholarship will help other aspiring archaeologists achieve their educational goals.