When Thomas Sankara was asked by a French journalist why he changed his country's name from UPPER VOLTA (a colonial name), to BURKINA FASO meaning Land of Upright people, His reply was: "Upper Volta didn't mean anything to us as a people (we are not French). But Burkina Faso comes from the SOIL, our SOIL. Burkina is the MOSSI word the predominant ethnic group for "HONESTY, INTEGRITY, UPRIGHTNESS" While Faso is the Dioula/Mandinka word for the "Land of our Fathers".