In this paper we investigate the characteristics of plasma waves observed by the Hawkeye 1 spacecraft in the vicinity of the polar cusp. The primary types of plasma waves associated with the polar cusp are (1) a band of ULF-ELF magnetic noise extending from a few hertz to several hundred hertz, (2) a broad-band electrostatic emission extending from a few hertz to about 30--100 kHz, with maximum intensities at about 10--50 Hz, (3) electrostatic electron cyclotron waves near the electron gyrofrequency, and (4) whistler mode auroral hiss emissions. Of these various types of waves, only the ULF-ELF magnetic noise is uniquely associated with the cusp in the sense that the noise can be used as a reliable indicator of the polar cusp region. All of the other types of plasma waves occur in regions adjacent to the polar cusp as well as in the cusp itself. Spectrum measurements often show that the ULF-ELF magnetic noise extends up to, but does not exceed, the local electron gyrofrequency fg-. This upper cutoff strongly suggests that the noise consists of whistler mode electromagnetic waves. The mechanism for generating these waves remains highly uncertain, however, since the electron angular distribution in the cusp is usually not sufficiently anisotropic to account for these waves by the well-known whistler mode cyclotron resonance instability. Other mechanisms, such as turbulence generated by the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability or by a drift wave instability, have also been suggested to generate this noise. The broad-band electrostatic noise is believed to be caused by a current-driven electrostatic instability (ion cyclotron or ion acoustic) of the type widely believed to occur in auroral field-aligned current systems. The mechanisms for generating electron cyclotron waves and auroral hiss emissions are believed to be reasonably well understood, on the basis of previous studies of these emissions in other regions of the magnetosphere.