Online participatory GIS has been with us for coming up 20 years and in that time has developed from simple map servers to highly sophisticated, interactive, bi-directional systems. This paper reviews the development of participatory GIS and focuses in particular on the challenges faced when designing projects aimed wholly, or in part, at capturing the knowledge and feelings of indigenous peoples. Early work based on simply giving the public access to data and GIS models via web-based interfaces promised much, but delivered little. Subsequent approaches have revolved around more simple approaches of Planning for Real style models or more sophisticated fuzzy spatial models and textual analysis aimed at mirroring the varied and often vague way we visualise the landscapes we inhabit. These are best embedded within broader programmes of inclusive information sharing and social survey that involve representatives of local groups at every step. Several examples are used to illustrate how these models have developed including recent projects with indigenous people in west Africa and North America where participatory approaches have been used to capture landscape value and meaning in relation to resource issues. Particular attention is given to the use of fuzzy GIS approaches to capture landscape values and meaning as the basis for better informed wildfire management plans and the reinstatement of traditional fire regimes based on indigenous knowledge. The paper concludes with a list of challenges for both governments and indigenous groups.